The Southern Baptist Convention approved a resolution to encourage member churches to welcome Muslim refugees coming to the United States at its annual meeting this week in St. Louis, Missouri.
Resolution 12 on Refugee Ministry was overwhelmingly approved at the church, which stated that SBC encourages its congregation "to minister care, compassion, and the Gospel to refugees who come to the United States."
"We affirm that refugees are people loved by God, made in His image, and that Christian love should be extended to them as special objects of God's mercy in a world that has displaced them from their homelands," it continued.
"That we encourage Southern Baptist churches and families to welcome and adopt refugees into their churches and homes as a means to demonstrate to the nations that our God longs for every tribe, tongue, and nation to be welcomed at His Throne."
The convention had maintained close ties with conservative politics in the country, but at this meeting the church also voted to discard Confederate flag and its use. Apart from voting on the flag, SBC passed 11 other resolutions pertaining to church ministries and culture.
Chairman of the Resolutions Committee, Stephen Rummage, said that the exhortation to evangelize was basic to all the measures taken at the meeting.
The call for evangelism "might just seem like a standard resolution for an evangelical body such as Southern Baptists to pass," he said at the news conference, "but really that is at the heart of everything that we talked about, including what we had to say about the Confederate flag. Everything that we do should have as its end and as its goal reaching people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ."
Rummage added that the resolutions "build bridges and they tear down walls, but we've got to cross those bridges with the Gospel and take Jesus to people because that's what it's all about and that's the only hope for our world, for our nation and indeed for Southern Baptists."
The annual meeting was attended by thousands of delegates from the largest Protestant denomination in the US, with over 15 million members across the country.
The conventions expressed grief and compassion for the Orlando shooting victims, and asked the congregation to pray, donate blood, and extend other support to them.
"The Bible teaches that God has created all men and women in His image (Genesis 1:26-27), and as the Author of life, regards acts of murder as evil (Matthew 16:18), and calls His people to love their neighbors as themselves," the Resolution 1 stated.
"We extend our love and compassion to those devastated by this tragedy and pledge to come to their aid by donating blood and other supportive means."
"We regard those affected by this tragedy as fellow image-bearers of God and our neighbors, and therefore condemn this act of terrorism and others like it and pray for the day when these senseless acts of violence cease."
Among other resolutions passed, some of the chief messages included prayers for "spiritual, moral, ethical, and cultural renewal," increased efforts to care for Alzheimer's and dementia patients and their family caregivers, and affirmation of "In God We Trust" as the national motto and its public display.
