Southern Baptists repeatedly call for pulling children out of public schools
Baptists call for private schools
Some say public education lacking
By Rebecca Putterman, The Daily Tarheel (University of North Carolina), August 29, 2007
For Melissa Riggins, the issue of separation of church and state was never really a problem when she was in high school. Riggins, now president of the University Baptist Church University Ministry, remembers her public school education as religiously and culturally tolerant. But Daniel Akin, president of the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, said public education is too secular and often anti-religion. Continue.
Christian schools focus of how-to workshop
By Joni B. Hannigan, Baptist Press, August 27, 2007
Windmere, Fla. (BP)--Pastors and lay leaders are learning how -- and why -- to expand Bible-based education at two-day "Christian School 101" workshops sponsored by the Southern Baptist Association of Christian Schools. "Our goal is to help pastors reduce the fear factor in starting a Christian school or home school network in their churches," said Ed Gamble, executive director of the Florida-based association. "Nationally, we see a rising wave of pastors and lay leaders who feel God is calling them to this endeavor, but obstacles like the lack of how-to knowledge are preventing them from moving ahead." Continue.
Southern Baptists won't back public school pullout
AP, USA TODAY, June 14, 2006
The resolution committee of the Southern Baptist Convention, meeting in Greensboro, North Carolina, refused to support a resolution urging the denomination to form a strategy for removing children from public schools in favor of home schooling or education at private schools. Instead, the committee sent out a resolution calling on members to engage with the public schools to try to change them. Click here for the report.
Staying in the fray
Many Southern Baptists resolve to remain in public schools, fight for beliefs
By Ken Garfield, The Charlotte Observer, June 18, 2006
According to this somewhat analytical report, "in declining even to vote on a call for Southern Baptist parents to pull their children from public schools, the faithful made a statement that may resonate beyond the Greensboro Coliseum Complex." Click here.
Home-schoolers pressing conservative denominations to leave public schools making headway among Southern Baptists
By Michael Gartland, The Post and Courier (Charleston, South Carolina), June 18, 2006
A long feature on the home-schooling movement, with considerable focus on Moore, a leader of the effort to start a Southern Baptist exodus from public schools. Click here.
 SBC Committee Member Agrees With Call for Public School 'Exit Strategy'
By Jim Brown, AgapePress, June 6, 2006
A second member of the Resolutions Committee for the upcoming Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Greensboro, North Carolina, says the denomination needs to consider developing a plan to remove its children from America's public schools. Continue
Many Southern Baptists Bypassing Public Schools
by Greg Allen, All Things Considered, May 27, 2006
A growing number of Southern Baptists are pulling their children out of public schools in favor of private, religious education. It's a controversial trend, with some Baptists arguing that the church should stay engaged with the public school system, NPR reports. For a link to the audio report, please click here.
Baptist Pastor Trumpets Another Call for 'Exit Strategy' from Schools
By Jim Brown, AgapePress, May 25, 2006
A Southern Baptist pastor from Florida says Christians are losing the battle in public schools. The pastor, a member of the committee that brings resolutions forward for the denomination's consideration, says the Southern Baptist Convention should consider developing an "exit strategy" for children from those schools.
Pastor Darrell Orman is the pastor of First Baptist Church - Stuart, Florida, and a member of the Resolutions Committee for the upcoming SBC annual meeting in Greensboro, North Carolina. He says the denomination should consider a proposed resolution that encourages Baptists to develop a strategy for leaving the nation's public school system. Another education-related resolution that has been submitted for consideration urges Baptists to support public schools. Continue
Southern Baptist activists renew call to quit public school
Convention rejected similar plan in 2004
By Rose French, The Tennessean, April 26, 2006
A group of activists in the Southern Baptist Convention are again calling on the denomination to remove its children from public schools, two years after a similar action was rejected.
The resolution to urge Baptists to develop an "exit strategy" from public schools is co-sponsored by Texas lawyer Bruce Shortt and Roger Moran, a Missouri businessman and member of the convention's influential executive committee. Continue
Public school exodus not backed by all
By Ann Work, The Times Record News (Wichita Falls, Texas), April 29, 2006
Baptist students will be staying put in public schools if three local Southern Baptist preachers have anything to say about it.
The three Wichita Falls pastors who talked to the Times Record News this week agreed with one another more than they did with activists in the Southern Baptist Convention who are pushing the denomination to recommend removing Baptist students from public schools. Continue
Baptists Call for Public School Support
By Rose French, The Intelligencer (Doylestown, Pennsylvania), April 21, 2006
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A group of Baptist leaders called on its members Friday to "speak positively about public education" in response to a conservative movement to pull Baptist children out of public schools
Fifty-six pastors and organizational leaders - some from the conservative Southern Baptist Convention and others from the more moderate Cooperative Baptist Fellowship - signed a letter supporting public schools. Continue
SBC DIGEST: Discussion over education resolution back in the media; Proposal “On Dissent” stirs exchange
By Art Toalston, Baptist Press, April 28, 2006
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--The Baptist tug of war over education is back in the media.
A proposed resolution has garnered media attention for urging Southern Baptist churches to develop “an exit strategy from the public schools,” with the assistance of Southern Baptist Convention entities. Meanwhile, the Baptist Center for Ethics, a liberal group regularly critical of the SBC and substantially funded by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, is promoting a “Baptist Pastoral Letter Supporting Public Education.”
The proposed resolution follows a resolution adopted by the SBC last year. The latest proposal may or may not survive deliberations by the SBC Resolutions Committee, which is closed to the press. The proposal is being submitted by Roger Moran, a Missouri layman who is a member of the SBC Executive Committee, and Bruce Shortt, a Texas attorney and homeschooling parent who has authored “The Harsh Truth About Public Schools.” Continue
Baptists: Plan exit from government schools
New resolution tells churches to develop strategy for pulling kids out
WorldNetDaily.com, April 26, 2006
The right-wing website WorldNetDaily reports that the activists driving the move to get the Southern Baptist Convention to approve a resolution urging parents to pull their children out of public schools failed at a similar effort two years ago. This year, however, the proponents have been strengthened by a column urging an "exit strategy" by Dr. Albert Mohler, the influential president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (see below). The denomination will consider the measure at its annual meeting next month. Click here for the article
Needed: An Exit Strategy
Albert Mohler, AlbertMohler.com, June 17, 2005
Writing before the Southern Baptist Convention's 2005 annual meeting, Dr. Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, stated:
I believe that now is the time for responsible Southern Baptists to develop an exit strategy from the public schools. This strategy would affirm the basic and ultimate responsibility of Christian parents to take charge of the education of their own children. The strategy would also affirm the responsibility of churches to equip parents, support families, and offer alternatives. At the same time, this strategy must acknowledge that Southern Baptist churches, families, and parents do not yet see the same realities, the same threats, and the same challenges in every context. Sadly, this is almost certainly just a matter of time.
Read Mohler's column
Strategy for Exiting Public Schools Described as 'Call to Holiness'
Jim Brown, Agape Press, May 1, 2006
A Southern Baptist Convention resolution proposed by author Bruce Shortt and a member of the Southern Baptist executive committee calls for parents to remove their children from public schools as a response to "a call for holiness" and a "call to obey God's word." Click here for the article
Groups Endorse Risk Audit as Tool to Fight Homosexual Agenda in Schools
By Jim Brown, Agape Press, April 27, 2006
Several pro-family, conservative groups are backing a new method of assessing the extent of homosexual activism at work in public schools. The "Risk Audit Project" involves a comprehensive survey to measure the promotion of homosexuality in a given public school district.
The project was developed by Linda Harvey of the Ohio-based group Mission America following last year's approval of a Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) resolution urging parents to investigate whether their school is collaborating with homosexual activists. Continue
Baptists kill anti-public-school resolution
Pastor says church must not usurp parental authority in home
Ron Strom, WorldNetDaily.com, Posted: June 16, 2004
Saying the church must not usurp parents' authority in the home, the Southern Baptist Convention today voted down a resolution that urged members to pull their children out of government schools. Continue
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