LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) _ Southern Baptists have ended their national meeting and left their host town quietly this week, avoiding controversial political pronouncements that have marked past conventions.
Convention President Johnny Hunt told Baptists at this year’s two-day meeting in Louisville that he wanted them to focus on missionary work.
The sole resolution that waded into political waters criticized President Obama’s views on abortion, abstinence and stem-cell research but was tempered by praise for Obama’s historic election.
Bill Leonard, a Baptist historian, says the low-key convention wasn’t surprising because Southern Baptist politics are “in transition.” Leonard says the convention’s past battles have proven to be a turnoff for many younger and former members.