Southern Baptists cancel plans to help find gambling machines

Single Sign-On: You can use Facebook account to log in to LasVegasSun.com. (We will use your first and last name from your profile.)
Trusted Commenting: Facebook connected users automatically become trusted commenters.

Friday, July 1, 2005 | 9:46 a.m.

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- South Carolina's largest religious denomination has canceled plans to help police find illegal gambling machines.

The South Carolina Baptist Convention won't be partnering with the State Law Enforcement Division to seek out the illegal machines, the group said in a release Thursday.

The group had announced it would post pictures of illegal gambling machines on its Web site and encourage members to report illegal machines starting today. The convention also planned to include information about the effort in its newspaper and church literature.

The South Carolina Baptist Convention is opposed to gambling, but isn't in the business of law enforcement, according to the release. The group's focus is ministry, missions and evangelism.