JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (ABP) — Florida Baptists voted to back amendments to the state and federal constitutions to ban gay marriage and to work with other denominations for their passage.
The motion passed apparently without opposition during the annual meeting of the Florida Baptist State Convention, held Nov. 8-9 in Jacksonville.
The action calls on Florida legislators to define marriage “as the union between a man and a woman” and “the God-ordained building block of the family and bedrock of civil society.”
Lakeland pastor Jay Dennis introduced the motion, which called Florida Baptists “lovingly, yet with passion and conviction,” to support the constitutional amendments. In discussion, Dennis said the measure was not intended to “bash” homosexuals but to establish a clear legal definition of marriage.
“This is an issue that churches should take up,” said Dennis, pastor of the 6,500-member First Baptist Church at the Mall in Lakeland. “The church is the voice of morality.”
He said Florida Baptists should work through state legislators to initiate the amendment. If that fails, he said, a grass-roots petition campaign involving other denominations should ensue, according to the Florida Times-Union.
Newly elected convention president Hayes Wicker endorsed the convention action. Wicker, pastor of First Baptist Church of Naples, said Florida Baptists should “unite with other people of faith to stem the tide of what we believe is a perversion of God's original pattern of marriage.”
Florida has already enacted the Defense of Marriage Act that limits marriage to heterosexual couples. But conservatives say the constitutional amendments are necessary to prevent “activist” judges from ruling in favor of same-sex marriage.
Stephen Wise, a Republican state senator from Jacksonville, told the Florida Times-Union it will take a minimum of two years to get a state constitutional amendment on the ballot for approval by Florida voters.
Florida Baptists also celebrated their 150th anniversary during the 2004 convention, which drew 1,900 messengers.
In other business, the convention tightened its bylaws to enforce the “theological integrity” of member churches and associations. The change requires each Florida Baptist church to adhere to the 2000 “Baptist Faith and Message” doctrinal statement “or any other declaration of faith which parallels the tenets of our historic Baptist faith.”
“Any church or association which undertakes questionable theology, faith, practice or polity shall be subject to having fellowship withdrawn by the Florida Baptist State Convention,” the bylaw amendment reads.
The revision authorizes the State Board of Missions to determine if a church or association is compliant with the new requirements or should be expelled.
Another revision requires member churches to file a standardized statistical report each year and contribute at least $250 to the Cooperative Program. A church that violates either requirement for three consecutive years can be expelled.
Messengers also passed a brief motion asking convention administrators “to find ways to strengthen and support Christian schools and home schooling” among the convention's churches.
Because of that action, convention leaders decided it was not necessary to consider a much longer resolution condemning public schools and calling all Christians to abandon public education.
The more strident resolution, part of a nationwide anti-schools campaign led by the group Exodus Mandate, was introduced by messenger Robert Dreyfuss. It would denounce the “anti-Christian” influence of government-run schools and urge Christians to remove their children from those “godless” public schools and put them in “thoroughly” Christian schools or educate them at home.
Last June, the Southern Baptist Convention declined to act on the anti-schools resolution, but supporters promised to seek passage in at least 10 Baptist conventions.
The Florida convention adopted a budget of $37 million which earmarks 51.75 percent for Florida Baptist Convention causes and 40 percent for Southern Baptist Convention causes. The remaining funds will be used for pastoral aid and annuities.