FRAMINGHAM, Mass.—Thirteen Southern Baptist international missionaries were fired last week for refusing to affirm the Southern Baptist Convention’s 2000 Baptist Faith and Message statement.

Trustees of the SBC International Mission Board dismissed the mission workers in keeping with an ultimatum IMB President Jerry Rankin issued last month to missionaries. He called on them to affirm the revised faith statement, resign by May 5 or face termination.

It is believed to be the largest group of SBC missionaries ever fired at one time. IMB officials declined to release the names of the missionaries involved, noting that “we don’t feel it’s our place to publicize their names.”

Another 20 missionaries resigned in recent days rather than endorse the doctrinal statement and 10 more took early retirement, according to the IMB. They join at least 34 missionaries who resigned last year in protest of the requirement to sign.

That means at least 77 IMB missionaries have left the mission field because of concerns over affirming the new faith statement.

Rankin said he is “grateful” for the thousands of missionaries who signed willingly. “We regret that any of our missionaries have chosen to resign rather than affirm the faith statement, but we feel it is time to move forward and keep our focus on sharing Christ with a lost world,” he said.

The primary concern cited by missionaries is their view that signing any faith statement amounts to affirming a creed—something historically opposed by Baptists. Rankin and other SBC leaders, however, have insisted the signing is necessary to assure Southern Baptists their missionaries are working within boundaries set by the convention.

“It is not appropriate to expect Southern Baptists to support those who are not willing to work in accord with what the denomination confesses to believe,” Rankin said. “To do so would undercut the credibility and confidence in the IMB as a denominational mission entity serving Southern Baptists.”

The terminations were carried out with no discussion or dissenting votes among trustees, according to an IMB spokesman.

“The SBC family has been in strong agreement concerning our statement of faith,” said Bob Claytor, IMB trustee chairman. “Our board reflects that agreement and 99 percent of our missionaries are also in strong agreement.”

While most of the non-signing missionaries were given the option of resigning, at least six were not—Ron Hankins and Lydia Barrow-Hankins (Japan), Rick and Nancy Dill (Germany) and Leon and Kathy Johnson (Mozambique). The six, who each have more than 20 years of service, had publicly opposed Rankin’s requirement to sign the faith statement.

In a letter informing them they must resign or face termination, Rankin accused them of “unwillingness to be accountable to Southern Baptists who send and support you.”

“After all this time of knowing it was coming, I was surprised that I was still so sad, sad for our convention that it has come to this,” Mrs. Dill said. “We didn’t resign because we didn’t feel we did anything wrong.”

Mrs. Hankins said she and her husband were told by Rankin that their dismissal was not a negative reflection on their missionary work.

“If this is not about our effectiveness as missionaries,” she said, “then it means Southern Baptists no longer put proclaiming Christ as a priority.”

The Dills have founded an organization to continue their work in ­Germany with new supporters; the Hankinses plan to continue their work in Japan with support from Japanese Baptists.

The Johnsons, however, said they are unsure about their future plans.

“We must find some form of employment,” Johnson said. “Whether any Baptist church will consider us for a position or whether we’ll need to try to be greeters at Wal-Mart or burger flippers at McDonald’s is uncertain.”