As the U.S. House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection holds hearings this week in Washington, D.C., Southern Baptists are gathering on the other side of the country in Anaheim, California. The divergence on how they treat the aftermath of the 2020 election might be as wide as the geographical split.
Last year, leaders at the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting in Nashville, Tennessee, pulled a resolution that would have had messengers declare they “denounce the Capitol insurrection … as inconsistent with faithful Christian citizenship.” It also would have criticized “idolatrous expression of love for our country as inconsistent with our ultimate loyalty to Christ.”
Pulling the resolution likely prevented a debate that might have seen messengers take a different stand than that proposed by the SBC’s resolutions committee. But the failure to condemn the insurrection sparked criticism and calls that they push such a resolution this year.
The head of the resolutions committee this year, Texas pastor Bart Barber, is one of the main two candidates for SBC president. Barber was on the committee last year that drafted the resolution denouncing the insurrection. If he brings forth a resolution on Jan. 6, it could signal a dividing point between him and his main opponent, Florida pastor Tom Ascol.
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