Alabama Baptist Conservatives, a network of pastors organized in 1997, officially disbanded Sept. 29, saying they accomplished their goal of steering the state's Baptist convention in “a conservative direction.”
“The state convention has taken a stand of being loyal Southern Baptists, theological conservatives and evangelism-oriented,” said the former group's moderator, John Killian, pastor of Maytown Baptist Church in Mulga, Ala
In 1997, Killian said, there were rumblings of what he called potential “liberal” shifts that spurred a group of laymen and pastors into action. The group formed out of concern about Cooperative Baptist Fellowship activity in the state, Killian explained.
“We did not want to go the direction of Texas and Virginia, where there was a split in the state convention and the original convention aligned with the moderate forces,” he said.
“I think the group made the state [convention] reaffirm our historic roots of grass-roots Alabama Baptists, our conservative nature,” he said. “… We were concerned about CBF influence, which I think is now negligible.”
Associated Baptist Press