Frankfort—The executive director of the Kentucky Baptist Convention will pen a letter explaining the potential social consequences if the U.S. Supreme Court legalizes gay marriage.

Rep. Tom Riner (D-Louisville) requested the KBC’s support on the issue during the organization’s public affairs committee meeting last Thursday at the Kentucky State Capitol in Frankfort.

“It would be great to have a statement (from the KBC) that would define some of the possible consequences to the social fabric if the court rules in a way that would strike down all of our constitutional amendments on marriage,” Riner told committee members.

The committee voted unanimously to have KBC Executive Director Paul Chitwood write the letter on behalf of the state’s largest religious organization with more than 700,000 members in some 2,400 churches.

Riner said the statement would accompany his amicus brief asking the high court to carefully consider the outcome of its decision.

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear four consolidated cases on same-sex marriage in April, including one from Kentucky. A ruling is expected in June that could legalize gay marriage nationwide.

“Should SCOTUS undermine the constitutions of a majority of states by mandating same-sex marriage at the federal level, the consequences for religious liberty in the U.S. could be devastating,” Chitwood said. “We are very concerned and plan to express our concerns.”

Committee members also heard from Rep. Tim Moore (R-Elizabethtown) who asked the KBC to help educate and motivate Kentucky Baptists to speak out on behalf of godly principles in all aspects of political and social arenas.

“We need more believers to step out and step up,” Moore said. “God Almighty expects us to advocate and declare truth. We need men and women of God who are willing to stand in the gap and declare what truth is and God, in His timing, will prevail.”

Moore said he receives more letters and calls from residents concerned about horse-related legislation than about bills that affect morality and religion.

“Why? Because those horse folks are passionate and organized,” Moore said. “We should be more passionate about serving Jesus Christ and about His truth prevailing in every sphere of human influence.”

In an update on payday lending legislation, Committee on Public Affairs Chairman Rick Hardison said Kentucky Baptists may have little influence on Senate Bill 32 since it is unlikely to make it out of committee and to the Senate floor for a vote. The bill has been in the Senate’s Committee on State and Local Government since Feb. 3.

Senate Bill 76, relating to the physical privacy of students, was voted down in committee Thursday, 6 to 3. The bill stated that, at no time, would students of opposite biological genders be allowed in the same bathroom or locker room simultaneously.

“This bill offered a better solution for schools that wanted to protect all students and not just transgender students seeking to use bathrooms or locker rooms of the sex with which they more closely identify,” Hardison said.

S.B. 76 was sponsored by Sen. C.B. Embry, a Kentucky Baptist from Butler County. (KBC)