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What We Believe

Statement of Faith

(Adopted by the Board of Trustees in 2020)

The University is committed to the teachings of the Holy Bible, God’s inerrant Word, as articulated in the “The Baptist Faith and Message, 2000” (BFM 2000) (or current edition).

The Baptist Faith and Message

For more in-depth teaching on the BFM 2000, visit our resource page that includes the video series "We Believe" that unpacks each of the 18 articles of the Baptist Faith and Message, 2000.

"We Believe" Video Series

Supporting Statements

The University is also committed to supplemental statements of religious convictions in the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, the Nashville Statement, and the Danvers Statement, and to providing an environment where those truths are taught and demonstrated by the University's employees.

Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy

Nashville Statement

Danvers Statement

Resolution by the Board of Trustees

Commitment to the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 and Affirmation of the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, the Danvers Statement, and the Nashville Statement

WHEREAS as an institution of the Missouri Baptist Convention, Southwest Baptist University is guided by a board of trustees elected by the Convention in its annual meeting.

WHEREAS as the board of trustees of Southwest Baptist University, we maintain the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 statement adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention in 2000 as the University’s Statement of Faith consistent with the Missouri Baptist Convention.

WHEREAS Southwest Baptist University seeks to elect and employ administrative officers, faculty, and university employees who subscribe to, live out, and teach in accordance with and not contrary to the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, who understand it is central to the identity, mission, and unwavering convictions of Southwest Baptist University, who desire to work at a university where these tenets are embraced and taught, and who hold these truths as their own.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of Trustees of Southwest Baptist University that the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 be the only confessional document of Southwest Baptist University, and the board of trustees affirms the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, the Danvers Statement, and the Nashville Statement and uses these three statements to interpret and clarify the Baptist Faith and Message 2000.

Approved by the Board of Trustees October 18, 2022

Shared Governance and Academic Freedom

The university's Compact for Shared Governance and Statement on Academic Freedom were adopted by the Board of Trustees on April 18, 2023. Each document was previously approved by the university's faculty senate. 

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