Broadway Baptist Faces Unfriendly Vote
The Southern Baptist Convention holds its annual meeting next week in Louisville. One item on the agenda concerns Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth. Today’s FWST explains:
Convention delegates are also expected to decide whether one of Fort Worth’s most venerable congregations, Broadway Baptist, remains in the denomination.
The Rev. Bob Sanderson of Wendell, N.C., criticized Broadway’s stands on homosexuality at last year’s convention and urged that the church be declared "not in friendly cooperation with the Southern Baptist Convention." The matter arose after Broadway members debated whether to allow photographs of same-sex couples in a church directory.
Now, Broadway, it should be noted, did not exactly adopt a gay-friendly position on the issue, or in general.
…The photographs were rejected in favor of group pictures.
A church statements says (sic) that one reason for not allowing photographs of gay couples was to emphasize that the church is in line with the Baptist constitution, which does not include churches that "affirm, approve or endorse" homosexual behavior. […]
The Baptist Executive Committee will meet Monday and recommend whether Broadway should continue as a cooperating member. A final decision will be made by a vote on the convention floor.
Broadway leaders met in February in Nashville, with the executive committee and urged that it not remove the church. […]
Since the February meeting, the church has responded to further questions about homosexuality asked by the executive committee, Broadway attorney Lynn Robbins said.
"We answered their questions by telling them we do not and never have ever endorsed, approved or affirmed homosexual behavior," Robbins said. "At the same time, our doors are open to all people, including homosexuals, without affirming their behavior."
So in the Southern Baptist world, merely entertaining the thought of treating homosexual couples with a modicum of respect may be sufficient to oust a congregation from the denomination. Stay tuned.
posted by marc g @ 3:57 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Broadway says clearly that homosexual behavior is NOT a sin, and homosexual members currently serve and are eligible to serve in all offices of leadership. Currently two serve as chairs of committees. Lynn Robbins statement is an outright lie.
It certainly says something that Broadway has homosexual members who not only feel comfortable there, but who contribute much to the life of the church. In my experience (and I was raised Southern Baptist) that is unheard of for a Southern Baptist church. One thing I didn't mention in my post is that Broadway has some prominent members who serve on the faculty at Southwestern Seminary. As I understand it, they would have to move their membership to another church if this measure passes. Maybe that's behind the effort to keep Broadway in the SBC. I suspect most Broadway members probably wouldn't mind at all if the SBC ousts the church.
One thing about it, if the SBC withdraws fellowship from Broadway, then Broadway members won't have to be embarrassed by the actions of the SBC anymore.
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