Southern Baptist Statement Affirmed by Georgia Members

Baptists voted Tuesday to affirm the new Southern Baptist statement of faith, shrugging off criticism from former President Carter and others unhappy with language that says the Bible is without error and women should not serve as pastors.

The statement was criticized by Carter when he announced last month that he was breaking with the Southern Baptist Convention over its “increasingly rigid” creed. Texas Baptists last month also weakened their ties to the national denomination because of its conservative shift.

The new Baptist Faith and Message was passed in June by the Southern Baptist Convention--America’s largest Protestant denomination, with 15.8 million members.

Delegates at Tuesday’s meeting of the Georgia Baptist Convention held up cards indicating their votes. No formal count was taken, but convention officials said about 75% of the 3,447 delegates voted in favor.

The Georgia convention’s president, the Rev. William Ricketts, supported the statement of faith but said he hopes Georgia Baptists stay unified.

“I hope no church would feel disenfranchised because they did not get the vote they were looking for,” Ricketts said.

Ricketts said he was saddened by Carter’s decision but respected the former president’s right to make it. Carter did not attend the meeting.

Delegate Gay Kirkpatrick said she may follow Carter’s example.

“I’ll be right with him,” Kirkpatrick said. “We’ve lost part of our autonomy. I do feel that women need to be pastors. In Georgia we’re not as needful, but we are in other parts of the world.”

The convention’s vote is not binding on local churches.

Southern Baptists have become increasingly divided in recent years about the national denomination’s moves to bar female pastors, declare that wives should “submit graciously” to their husbands, boycott the Walt Disney Co. and condemn homosexuality.