The resolution passed Wednesday afternoon decried "every form of racism, including alt-right white supremacy, as antithetical to the Gospel of Jesus Christ".
On Tuesday night, officials who oversaw the resolutions originally refused to introduce a different repudiation of the 'alt-right, ' the movement which emerged dramatically during the USA presidential election and was accused of mixing racism, white nationalism and populism. The resolution followed the controversial rejection Tuesday of an earlier version that denounced the "retrograde ideologies, xenophobic biases and racial bigotries of the "alt-right" that seek to subvert our government", reports the AP.
Barrett Duke, who leads the resolutions committee, balked at bringing McKissic's resolution to a vote on Tuesday on the basis that it contained broad language "potentially implicating" conservatives who do not support the "alt-right" movement.
He said the new version of the resolution speaks with "conviction but also with compassion" and repudiates racism "in a tone that honors all people, even those with whom we disagree".
The resolution passed overwhelmingly and was sponsored by two Southern Baptist seminary professors, Owen Strachan of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Malcolm Yarnell of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Several Southern Baptists were panicked, contending that silence would be misinterpreted as support for white supremacy.
"If we will share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with lost people and the power of the Holy Spirit, not all of them will be saved, but some of them will be saved", Gaines said.
The fact it took almost 24 hours to pass such a resolution clearly disturbed McKissic, however.
"With next year being in Dallas and being an election year (for SBC president), we'll probably be back up around 9,000 messengers", Currence said.
"I'm grateful that things have ended up like they have, I think, for the kingdom of God's sake", McKissic said following the vote.
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The action came after a wave of protests on social media from black and white Southern Baptists and other evangelical Christians greeted the failure of the resolutions committee and messengers to bring an alt-right resolution to the floor the previous day.
Charles Hedman of Capitol Hill Baptist Church also spoke in favor of the resolution and urged the committee "not to accept any resolutions, or amendments to the resolution rather, that would weaken this resolution in any way". The alt-right is a set of far-right ideologies centered on "white identity" and the preservation of "Western civilization" now being energized by the election of President Donald Trump.
The Southern Baptist Convention's (SBC) annual meeting drew 5,018 messengers to Phoenix June 13-14.
Just when the denomination seemed poised to forgo an opportunity to categorically denounce white supremacy, a group of Southern Baptist leaders quickly got to work on a new draft of the resolution, which Gaines personally endorsed.
"I'm disappointed that we as a convention could leave the illusion that we don't reject the racist ideologies held by many in the alt-right movement", he said.
He was elected with 80 percent of the White Evangelical vote.
He called on the convention to reconsider McKissic's resolution and "condemn the alt-right from the stage as we speak right now so there is not misunderstanding from the press or this convention".
Richard Land, the former commission head, was instrumental in the passage of a 1995 resolution in which Southern Baptists lamented slavery and apologized to African-Americans for condoning racism.
The statistics released in advance of the 2017 SBC annual meeting has indicated that there are one million fewer Southern Baptists than a decade ago.
After the resolutions committee decided not to move the resolution forward, McKissic made a motion to allow additional time for the resolution to be considered. "I believe there is only one race and that is the human race".
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