DALLAS (BP) – A collective resolution on restoring moral clarity regarding gender, marriage and the family arguably covered the most ground on Southern Baptist concerns, but messengers also approved measures aimed at pornography, chemical abortion pills, international religious freedom and the growing threat of online sports betting at the 2025 SBC Annual Meeting June 10-11.
Resolution 5 reflected positions on the family, marriage and gender that would not be surprising to Southern Baptists, Committee on Resolutions Chairman Andrew Walker told reporters in a press conference. It calls for a respect of “creation order principles” by state legislators to observe, and was therefore more of an “outward-facing” resolution.
The resolution directly called for the overturn of Obergefell v. Hodges, which made same-sex marriage legal throughout the country, and the “complete and permanent defunding of Planned Parenthood,” with those public funds dispersed to life-affirming healthcare providers.
In addition to the overturning of Obergefell, the resolution called for a return to laws that affirm marriage between one man and one woman.
Walker was clear that in juxtaposing the resolution and culture, he was “clear-eyed about the difficulties and the headwinds in this resolution.”
“Southern Baptists are not going anywhere on this issue,” he said. As the largest Protestant denomination in the country, Walker added, the SBC can be “a mechanism for encouragement for other conservative-minded evangelicals.”
Referred to as an “omnibus” resolution, it also opposed laws or polices compelling people to speak against their conscience about sex and gender. Resolution 5 further urged Christians to “celebrate and embrace marriage and childbearing” and called for “moral clarity” concerning discussions about declining fertility.
Other approved resolutions covered the harmful and predatory nature of sports betting, banning pornography, the dangers of chemical abortion pills and the importance of international religious freedom. Resolutions also honored the centennial anniversary of the Baptist Faith and Message and Cooperative Program as well as for appreciation to the city of Dallas.
Committee member Lemanuel Williams, lay pastor of Redeemer Church in Rocky Mount, N.C., presented Resolution 3 on the harmful and predatory nature of sports betting.
Williams works in the inner city and sees its direct effects.
“We’re upholding this, not just for our good, but for the common good,” he said. “We want to see flourishing for all people. And it’s not doing that. [Sports betting] is dehumanizing people.”
Whitney Alexander, a women’s ministry leader at First Baptist Church in Gadsden, Ala., where her husband, Mat, is pastor, presented Resolution 4 that calls for a ban on pornography.
“We have a responsibility to speak, to say it out loud, to not be afraid to say this is an issue,” she said. “It’s an issue not only in the lives of individuals and the lives of families, but it’s an issue in America.”
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