Baptist Endorsement of Bork Violates Church Bylaws, Former Executive Says

The recent endorsement by a Southern Baptist agency of U.S. Supreme Court nominee Robert H. Bork has been called a violation of the denomination’s bylaws by a former longtime Southern Baptist executive.

Porter W. Routh, who was executive secretary-treasurer of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee from 1951 to 1979, cited a bylaw limiting denominational units from going beyond their officially approved statements.

The Southern Baptist Public Affairs Committee, a relatively new agency created during the growing ascendancy of fundamentalist and politically conservative leaders in the denomination, endorsed the Reagan Administration’s nominee to the Supreme Court by a 7-5 vote. The resolution also urged the multi-denominational Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs to lobby on behalf of the nomination.

The Rev. Harold Bennett, the denomination’s current president-treasurer, in voting against the resolution, warned that he knew of no previous time when a Southern Baptist board or agency had endorsed a person for office.

Though Bork is not running for a political office, another dissenter on the committee’s resolution vote, Lloyd Elder, president of the Southern Baptist Sunday School Board, said, “The process of confirming a judge is part of the political process.”