WHEREAS, The 1973 Southern Baptist Convention recognizes, first, the urgent need for widespread distribution of the printed Word of God at home and around the world; and second, that the advance of the gospel depends upon a wider distribution of Bibles, New Testament, portions (individual books of the Bible), and Scripture selections, and
WHEREAS, The American Bible Society renders an essential worldwide service through translating and publishing the Scriptures without doctrinal note or comment, and distributing them at a price people can afford–or free, if need be–and
WHEREAS, The American Bible Society in cooperation with 54 other national Bible societies, recognizing the rapid growth of literacy around the world, is presently preparing Scripture Literacy Selections at five progressive reading levels–these to be completed in over 100 languages by the end of the decade–and
WHEREAS, This worldwide program “Let the Word Speak,” is designed to place the written Word in the hands of people whose reading ability is greatly limited and for whom there is little, if any, reading material available at present, and
WHEREAS, The American Bible Society provides Scriptures without charge to chaplains for distribution to personnel in the Armed Forces, and to patients in veterans’ hospitals, and
WHEREAS, The American Bible Society continues its 138-year service to the blind by making the Scriptures available to the sightless, free of charge when the need arises, in Braille, and on records, tapes, and cassettes, and
WHEREAS, The American Bible Society is rendering an additional special service to the Southern Baptist Convention by providing Scriptures designed for the use of Southern Baptist churches in the area of Bible study and evangelism.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That we fraternally urge all Southern Baptist churches and their members worthily to support the American Bible Society with generous financial contributions in order to provide the needed Scriptures to carry on our worldwide missions program, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That we encourage all state conventions, associations, and churches to emphasize through their own programs the need for a wider reading and sharing of God’s Word, both at home and throughout the world, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That we pray increasingly that our Lord’s Great Commission be fulfilled so that ultimately the Living Lord of the Scriptures may become known and accepted by all peoples of the earth.