For the Southern Baptist Convention, the wall of separation between church and state is almost as sacred as the infallibility of the Bible. For administrators of Southern Baptist colleges and hospitals, the ready availability of federal grants and loans is a tempting answer to the pressing need for expanded facilities. At the annual meetings of the Southern Baptist state conventions last month, federal aid was unquestionably the leading topic of debateĀand the wide variety of conclusions reached by the "messengers" (delegates) measured the extent to which it has become a real problem for the nation's largest Protestant faith.
In Florida,...