More than 1,000 messengers from the state's 2,004 Southern Baptist churches overwhelmingly passed a resolution opposing the acts of judges who "ban the display of Christian symbols and Biblical words in public places." The resolution declares "our support of all private citizens and governmental officials who have taken a stand for the right to display Biblical symbols and words on public property."

The resolution was inspired by Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, who recently lost an appeal to the Supreme Court to reverse a lower court's order to remove a display of the Ten Commandments from the Alabama judicial building rotunda, said Resolutions Committee Chairman Bert Welch. Resolutions traditionally don't include names of individuals, he said.

Resolutions aren't binding on individual congregations but carry some political weight, considering that the S.C. Baptist Convention reports 740,000 members. About 567,000 of those are resident members, according to the convention's annual report.

Another resolution passed Tuesday was at least partially inspired by the Episcopal Church's recent decision to accept the Rev. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire as the first openly gay bishop in a major Christian denomination. The resolution supports a federal amendment to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman. The resolution calls homosexuality "an abomination in the eyes of the Creator."

Messengers also passed a resolution opposing gambling on land owned by the Catawba Indian tribe in York County. Gov. Mark Sanford referred to the resolution in brief remarks to the convention. He called gambling in all forms "a real cancer in the state of South Carolina" and vowed to fight the tribe's effort to start an electronic bingo operation.

Another resolution says baptism by immersion is necessary for membership in state Southern Baptist churches. Churches who accept members who were baptized by sprinkling or pouring should not be considered in good standing with the S.C. Baptist Convention, according to the resolution.

The main thrust of the convention, which continues through this morning at First Baptist Church, is to generate enthusiasm for an initiative called Empowering Kingdom Growth. EKG calls for 500 new Southern Baptist churches in the state by 2007.

S.C. Baptist Convention Executive Director Carlisle Driggers said he was seeing progress since the goal was announced last year but didn't have specific numbers. EKG particularly targets Hispanics, blacks and other groups that Southern Baptists have not traditionally reached, he said.

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