Messengers this morning declined to debate a resolution by Tom Ascol of Florida concerning church membership and church discipline. The resolution, which Ascol asked messengers to bring to the floor, would have asked Southern Baptists to “repent of our failure to maintain responsible church membership.” It was one of more than 20 resolutions on which the Committee on Resolutions declined to act. Committee Chairman Gerald Harris said the committee felt the resolution would have “infringed upon the honored principle of church autonomy.”

A two-thirds vote was required to bring the resolution to the floor. Via a show of ballots, approximately 40 percent of messengers supported debate on the resolution.