SHARE First Baptist Church first worshiped at this location on Dec. 2, 1951. David Breckenridge, pastor, First Baptist Church of Memphis, Poplar and East Parkway

By David Waters of The Commercial Appeal

Members of historic First Baptist Church of Memphis approved a resolution Sunday that would allow gay marriage and ordination.

The vote, taken Sunday after the worship service, wasn't a big surprise. The church at Poplar and East Parkway baptized an openly gay man in 2001. Two years ago, the congregation voted overwhelmingly to ordain its first gay deacons.

"This morning continues the tradition at FBCMemphis of applying our theology and faith to the issues and needs of our times as a church where all are welcome," said Rev. David Breckenridge, senior pastor since 2008.

"Our church has a long history of being a progressive congregation where matters of social equality and justice are concerned."

The 175-year-old congregation was among the first historically Southern Baptist churches to welcome African-Americans in the 1970s.

The congregation began ordaining women as deacons and ministers in the late 1990s.

First Baptist was among the first and largest Baptist churches in the region to part ways with the Southern Baptist Convention, and the local Shelby Baptist Association, and affiliate with the more moderate Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.

The SBC excludes from its fellowship churches that "act to affirm, approve or endorse homosexual behavior." The CBF hasn't taken an official position on gay marriage or ordination, but it bans the hiring of gay staff members and missionaries.

"Historically, the CBF has allowed individual congregations to make up their own minds about these matters, and I don't expect that to change," Breckenridge said.

About 70 percent of the 133 who voted Sunday favored the motion, which had been approved by the church's board of deacons in November.

"This isn't a vote about the kind of church we want to be in the future, it's a vote about who we are now," said David Richardson, deacon board president and a fourth-generation member.

The motion reads:

"As Christ's church, First Baptist Memphis is called to minister equally to all persons, extending to them the privileges afforded to any follower of Christ, including, but not limited to, baptism, membership, leadership, ordination, and marriage and will not discriminate based on race, gender, age, marital status, or sexual orientation."