June 7, 2024

PRATTVILLE, Alabama – Rick Lance has announced that all Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM) accounts on X – formerly known as Twitter – will be deleted.

“Our exit is because of X’s announced, formalized policy related to pornography,” said Lance, the SBOM’s executive director. “Beginning on July 1, we will begin deleting those accounts such as the SBOM corporate account and those of various SBOM offices.”

Lance noted that his own X account will be deleted as well.

Recently, X told its users, “You may share consensually produced and distributed adult nudity or sexual behavior, provided it’s properly labeled and not prominently displayed. … Adult Content is any consensually produced and distributed material depicting adult nudity or sexual behavior that is pornographic or intended to cause sexual arousal.”

Lance declared that the new policy is incompatible with the SBOM’s values of Biblical fidelity and sharing the Gospel of Christ which calls for repentance from sin.

In addition, Lance and his state missionary colleagues each affirm a confession of faith known as the Baptist Faith & Message 2000, which declares that Christians should oppose “all forms of sexual immorality,” including pornography.

“As the SBOM along with other ministries and individuals declare our intentions to leave X, we hope that X may significantly change its policy regarding Adult Content,” Lance said. “If such a change occurs before July 1, the SBOM may well stay.

“I ask Alabama Baptists and others to pray this happens. Before now, X has been a place for often serious conversations on important topics. We hope the ‘Twitterverse’ will return to focusing on its previous mission.”

The Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions provides resourcing and conferencing for a family of approximately 3,200 autonomous local churches.