An Open Letter to Missouri Baptists:

For 158 years the Second Baptist Church of Liberty has cherished the freedom and autonomy of the local church and the individuals who make up each congregation. Rooted deeply within this belief is historic Baptist polity—that actions of cooperating churches, associations or conventions are not binding upon each other, enabling these entities to fulfill freely their individual purposes and ministries.

We are saddened the Missouri Baptist Convention has overwhelmingly abandoned this important principle of Baptist heritage. By unseating our messengers to the 167^th annual meeting, the Convention conveyed it no longer desires to cooperate with us. This brings a sense of loss as we have always been “in sympathy with the objects of the Convention” and, since 1919, desired to cooperate with the Convention’s program of single alignment.

This has been a mutually beneficial relationship, characterized by our support of mission and ministry causes within the Missouri Baptist family and the opportunity for hundreds from our church to serve our institutions and give leadership to boards, commissions and committees.

Membership in the Southern Baptist Convention appears now to be mandatory for membership in the Missouri Baptist Convention. Our church dissolved ties to the Southern Baptist Convention because we believe freedom has been compromised. The Missouri Baptist Convention has demonstrated it is now a place where the traditional principles of freedom are at risk. Second Baptist Church is free. We give thanks for our freedom in Christ to support and relate to Baptist institutions and organizations that also value freedom and autonomy.

We thank those who stood with us at the annual meeting. We encourage all of you to stand in support of the historic Baptist freedoms of believer priesthood, local church autonomy, separation of church and state, Baptist polity and religious liberty. May we hold fast to these ideals, which helped forge a nation and will continue to bring about the best of our free-church tradition.

In the days and years ahead, may Baptists everywhere join in affirmation of the truth found in the hymn, In Christ, Our Liberty: “Tho’ creeds and laws imposed by pow’r / May mock equality / Our trust in Christ and Christ alone / Will keep our spirits free.”

For freedom’s sake,

The Congregation of Second Baptist Church

Unanimously approved in special church conference Sunday, November 11, 2001.