Law & Courts

Southern Baptists Decline To Take Up Call for Public School Exodus

By Mary Ann Zehr — June 23, 2004 2 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

A proposal that the Southern Baptist Convention urge Christian parents to remove their children from public schools didn’t get the support it needed to be considered for a vote last week at the convention’s annual meeting.

T.C. Pinckney, a retired U.S. Air Force brigadier general from Alexandria, Va., who had pushed the measure, said he doesn’t plan to give up trying to persuade Southern Baptists to opt for home schooling and private Christian schooling instead of public schools that he sees as hostile to Christian beliefs.

Mr. Pinckney said in an interview last week that he plans to submit a similar proposal to the convention next year. “We will not fold our tents and tuck our tail between our legs and sneak away,” he said.

Numbering 16.3 million, Southern Baptists make up the nation’s largest Protestant denomination. Some 8,700 representatives gathered for religious services and to vote on church matters at the meeting, held June 15 and 16 in Indianapolis.

The resolution sought by Mr. Pinckney and co-author Bruce N. Shortt, a Houston lawyer and home schooling father, called public schools “Godless” and “anti-Christian.” It criticized such schools for “teaching that the homosexual lifestyle is acceptable.” (“Vote Sought on Public School ‘Exodus’,” May 26, 2004.)

In its rationale for urging parents to remove their children from public schools, the proposal said: “It is foolish for Christians to give their children to be trained in schools run by the enemies of God.”

Amendment Defeated

Calvin R. Wittman, the chairman of the 10-member resolutions committee for the convention, told the assembled Southern Baptists last week that the committee had unanimously decided not to bring Mr. Pinckney’s resolution up for a vote before the convention.

He explained to the attendees that the committee members felt that parents—and not the denomination—should be the ones to decide where to send their children to school, according to John Revell, a spokesman for the convention.

But Mr. Pinckney made sure that the church representatives, which Southern Baptists call messengers, had a chance to consider the matter at the annual meeting. As an amendment to another resolution, which criticized the secularization of American society, he proposed urging Christian parents to choose home schooling or private schooling for their children.

Messengers discussed that amendment for about 20 minutes, according to Mr. Pinckney, before voting it down.

Related Tags:

Events

Federal Webinar The Trump Budget and Schools: Subscriber Exclusive Quick Hit
EdWeek subscribers, join this 30-minute webinar to find out what the latest federal policy changes mean for K-12 education.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Curriculum Webinar
End Student Boredom: K-12 Publisher's Guide to 70% Engagement Boost
Calling all K-12 Publishers! Student engagement flatlining? Learn how to boost it by up to 70%.
Content provided by KITABOO
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School & District Management
Moving the Needle on Attendance: What’s Working NOW
See how family engagement is improving attendance, and how to put it to work in schools.
Content provided by TalkingPoints

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Law & Courts Supreme Court Gives Relief to Maine Legislator in Transgender Sports Controversy
The U.S. Supreme Court temporarily restored voting privileges to a Maine lawmaker whose social media post criticized a transgender athlete.
3 min read
Rep. Laurel Libby, R-Auburn, speaks in opposition to a heating assistance package, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023, at the State House in Augusta, Maine.
State Rep. Laurel D. Libby speaks at the State House in Augusta, Maine, on Jan. 4, 2023. Libby's February social media post about a transgender athlete ultimately led to a White House confrontation between President Donald Trump and Maine Gov. Janet D. Mills that has escalated to the point of the U.S. Department of Education threatening the state's federal school funding.
Robert F. Bukaty/AP
Law & Courts Supreme Court Case on Birthright Citizenship Sparks Fears for School Funding
The justices are weighing whether to allow nationwide injunctions of President Donald Trump's executive order on birthright citizenship.
5 min read
Hannah Liu, 26, of Washington, holds up a sign in support of birthright citizenship on May 15, 2025, outside of the Supreme Court in Washington. "This is enshrined in the Constitution. My parents are Chinese immigrants," says Liu. "They came here on temporary visas so I derive my citizenship through birthright."
Hannah Liu, 26, of Washington, holds up a sign in support of birthright citizenship on May 15, 2025, outside of the Supreme Court in Washington. "This is enshrined in the Constitution. My parents are Chinese immigrants," says Liu. "They came here on temporary visas so I derive my citizenship through birthright."
Jacquelyn Martin/AP
Law & Courts Opinion What the Supreme Court Case on LGBTQ+ Books Reminds Us About Parents’ Rights
Regardless of which side wins Mahmoud v. Taylor, we have a big problem.
Jamie Kudlats & Christopher D. Thomas
5 min read
Man and woman waiting around speech bubble hole
E+/Getty
Law & Courts Retired Justice Souter, Advocate for Civics and Church-State Split, Dies at 85
Retired Justice David Souter, who wrote Supreme Court opinions on student strip searches and government aid to religion, has died.
4 min read
Retired Supreme Court Justice David Souter smiles during a new lecture series titled, "Constitutionally Speaking" on Sept. 14, 2012 in Concord, N.H. Souter spoke to more than 1,300 who packed a small theater to hear him.
Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter, pictured participating a Sept. 14, 2012, lecture series on the U.S. Constitution in Concord, N.H., died May 8, 2025.
Jim Cole/AP