Whereas, the identity of the First Baptist Church of Raleigh, North Carolina, from its founding one hundred and eighty-six years ago in 1812 has always embraced and cherished the authentic and mainstream Baptist heritage; and

 Whereas, First Baptist Church, Raleigh, founded with 23 charter members, bequeathed to us our Baptist identity through witnessing, ministering, and magnifying the presence and spirit of Christ in their generation; and

 Whereas, First Baptist Church, Raleigh has historically rooted its life in the Bible as the inspired and authoritative Word of God for faith and practice, to be interpreted by each individual as led by the Holy Spirit within this fellowship of believers, and with Jesus Christ as the only criterion by which the Bible is to be interpreted; and

 Whereas, we have characteristically interpreted the Scriptures without the encumbrance of biblical literalism and consistently exercised our freedom of self-governance, thereby enabling us to honor the ministry gifts of women as well as men and to ordain women as deacons of this church since 1874 and, since 1982, as ministers of the gospel; and

 Whereas, our ancestors founded First Baptist Church, Raleigh, two years before the founding of the Triennial Convention, the first national Baptist organization in the United States, eighteen years before the formation of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, and thirty-three years before the organization of the Southern Baptist Convention; and

 Whereas, First Baptist Church, Raleigh, has led in the establishment of numerous local congregations and has always exercised its cherished local church independence within the bounds of a broader Baptist interdependence, enthusiastically cooperating and liberally contributing to joint missionary, educational, and benevolence efforts through the Raleigh Baptist Association, the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, and the Southern Baptist Convention; and

 Whereas, we do reaffirm our faithfulness to Christ and to the extension of His kingdom as we have done throughout the years by continuing to participate in missions, education, and benevolences both in our city, our state, and to the ends of the earth, and by praying for and financially supporting those who serve in Christ's name where we cannot be present in body; and 

Whereas, current authoritarian trends in Southern Baptist Convention disregard our Baptist heritage and compromise essential freedoms of biblical interpretation, the autonomy of every local church, the priesthood of all believers, and the right of all people to worship God in their own way, without interference from government; and 

Whereas, we reaffirm our commitment to our Baptist heritage and freedoms, under Christ our Lord, and honor the right of every Baptist church to choose its own guiding principles;

 Be it therefore RESOLVED that we the members of the First Baptist Church of Raleigh, North Carolina, meeting in conference September 23, 1998, after years of faithful cooperation, do reaffirm our commitment to the Raleigh Baptist Association and the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina; and

 Be it further RESOLVED that, regretfully, we no longer identify our church with the Southern Baptist Convention.