The Alabama Baptist Conservatives (ABC), a network of pastors that organized in the state in 1997, officially disbanded Sept. 29.
“The state convention has taken a stand of being loyal Southern Baptists, theological conservatives and evangelism-oriented,” said ABC moderator John Killian, pastor of Maytown Baptist Church, Mulga, in Bessemer Baptist Association. “That’s what we wanted and we are there.”
Killian, who proposed the move to disband during the group’s annual meeting, held this year in Prattville, said, “Why keep a reform group going when we are happy (with the current leadership and direction)?”
Noting enthusiastic agreement and strong support, he said the vote to disband was unanimous.
“We are supportive of our current state convention officers and … express strong support of the leadership of Dr. (Rick) Lance,” Killian said.
“I don’t think conservatives are a side group of the state convention but are in the mainstream of our state convention,” Killian said.
Alabama is a conservative state, he said, but in 1997, there were rumblings of what he called potential “liberal” shifts that spurred a group of laymen and pastors into action.
The group — originally known as Southern Baptist Conservatives of Alabama (SBCOA) — formed out of concern about “Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF) activity in the state,” Killian explained.
“We were incorporated; we had a Web site and we had a newsletter. We were high profile,” he said. “We did not want to go the direction of Texas and Virginia, where there was a split in the state convention and the original convention aligned with the moderate forces.”
Alabama managed to steer away from such an option, and Killian credits the ABC with helping define the “conservative direction” of the state.
“I think the group made the state reaffirm our historic roots of grassroots Alabama Baptists, our conservative nature,” he said.
“In 1997, there were moderate influences in the country trying to cut funding, but that is a dead issue now,” Killian said. “We were concerned about CBF influence, which I think is now negligible.”
The ABC — which numbered consistently in the hundreds, Killian said — held at least two meetings a year and was unapologetically political in nature.
The annual meeting of the group was organized as a luncheon attached to the Alabama Baptist Pastors Conference, held the day before the state convention annual meeting.
Past reports in The Alabama Baptist confirm that slates of candidates for state convention offices were presented to the group during that luncheon and those attending were urged to vote with a united front.
Killian said the luncheon represented the most active move the group made each year. “Our biggest thing was to encourage pastors to stay for the convention and stay until Wednesday for the votes,” he said.
Roger Willmore, pastor of Deerfoot Baptist Church, Trussville, in Birmingham Baptist Association, acknowledged that the luncheons were political in nature at their inception.
But that is no longer the case, Willmore said in an interview with The Alabama Baptist following the 2004 pastors’ luncheon. The luncheon is not a “meeting for the conservative group” any longer, he explained.
“We are trying to depoliticize this lunch,” Willmore said. “The purpose of the luncheon is to bring us together on relational issues, not political issues.”
Killian agreed. “We have moved toward encouragement and support,” he said.
Harold Fanning, pastor of Shoal Creek Baptist Church, Decatur, in Morgan Baptist Association, is the 2005 Pastors Conference president and the first to organize the luncheon as an official part of the Pastors Conference.
After his election as Pastors Conference president, Fanning said, “The tone (of the luncheon) has changed. Speakers are more about exalting Jesus and off the politics. We are back to a ministry-based conference.”
Just as the luncheon changed in nature, so did the group, Killian explained. In 2002, the group voted to change its name from SBCOA to ABC and change from an incorporated entity to an unincorporated network without membership dues.
“We backed off but we kept a network,” Killian said, noting the group held one meeting a year until the Sept. 29 vote. “Now there’s not an organization left,” he noted.
“There was a time when we wanted conservatives to have a voice in the state convention,” Killian said. “We believe now the convention voice is conservative.
“The issues that arise will be dealt with by good conservative leaders because that’s who leads our convention now.”
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