Southern Baptist Split to Grow, Maverick Says

The leader of a breakaway congregation in Biloxi, Miss., said his group is the first of what will be a growing split between moderate and fundamentalist Southern Baptists.

“We have taken the first step,” said the Rev. Bill Jenkins, who resigned last month as pastor of Bay Vista Baptist Church and met with about a dozen families for services last week. “We are the first church aligned with the Southern Baptist Alliance that is not a part of the Southern Baptist Convention.”

Alan Neely, executive director of the Southern Baptist Alliance and a professor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., also said Jenkins may be the first U.S. case of a pastor making a public break because of recent denominational events.

The Southern Baptist Alliance is a national group made up primarily of moderate Baptists. Moderate members have dissented publicly against the denomination’s fundamentalist leaders.