WHEREAS, The Baptist Faith and Message that was adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention in 1925 was identified in its preamble as the “New Hampshire Confession of Faith, revised at certain points, and with some additional articles growing out of present needs,” with the preamble further stating that our confessions “constitute a consensus of opinion” and that “we do not regard them as complete statements of our faith, having any quality of finality or infallibility”; and
WHEREAS, The revision of the Baptist Faith and Message in 1963 was led by a committee who declared that it “sought to build upon the structure of the 1925 Statement” while “in no case [seeking] to delete from or to add to the basic contents of the 1925 Statement”; and
WHEREAS, The committee that revised the Baptist Faith and Message that was adopted in 2000 stated in its preamble that it “respects and celebrates the heritage of the Baptist Faith and Message, and affirms the decision of the Convention in 1925 to adopt the New Hampshire Confession of Faith, ‘revised at certain points and with some additional articles growing out of certain needs . . . .’” and further affirmed their respect for “the important contributions of the 1925 and 1963 editions of the Baptist Faith and Message”; and
WHEREAS, The New Hampshire Confession states that in a gospel church the “only scriptural officers are bishops or pastors, and deacons” (Article XIII); and
WHEREAS, The Baptist Faith and Message 1925 states that a church’s “Scriptural officers are bishops, or elders, and deacons” (Article XII); and
WHEREAS, The Baptist Faith and Message 1963 substitutes the word “pastors” for the words “bishops, or elders,” so that it says that a church’s “Scriptural officers are pastors and deacons” (Article VI); and
WHEREAS, The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 retains the exact language found in the 1963 version when it states that a church’s “scriptural officers are pastors and deacons” (Article VI); and
WHEREAS, The New Testament uses all three titles that the Baptist Faith and Message has used to describe the one office of bishop/overseer (episkopos, Philippians 1:1; 1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:7), elder (presbuteros, Acts 14:23, 20:17; 1 Timothy 5:17, 19), and pastor (poimen, Ephesians 4:11; 1 Peter 5:1–5), thus demonstrating that from its first expression in 1925 through its revisions in 1963 and 2000, the Baptist Faith and Message has affirmed that, along with deacon, the only other office in a New Testament church is that of bishop/elder/pastor; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana, June 13–14, 2023, affirm that the only officers of a local church that the New Testament recognizes are that of deacon and of bishop/elder/pastor; and be it finally
RESOLVED, That we reaffirm our confessional heritage, grounded in Scripture, and recognize that these are the only two offices appointed by Christ to serve along with all the members of a New Testament church, and we encourage our churches to uphold all the biblical qualifications that the New Testament requires for all those who would hold either office of bishop/elder/pastor or deacon.