Upholding the liberty of a local church to determine its own mind on this matter, in accordance with our Declaration of Principle, we also recognise the freedom of a minister to respond to the wishes of their church, where their conscience permits, without breach of disciplinary guidelines.
We affirm the traditionally accepted Biblical understanding of Christian marriage, as a union between a man and a woman, as the continuing foundation of belief in our Baptist Churches.
A Baptist minister is required to live and work within the guidelines adopted by the Baptist Union of Great Britain regarding sexuality and the ministry that include ‘a sexual relationship outside of Christian marriage (as defined between a man and a woman) is deemed conduct unbecoming for a minister’.
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The above statement by the British Baptists effectively says that while the Baptist Union has at its foundation a commitment to marriage between a man and a woman, British Baptist pastors and congregations are freed to act according to their own mind and conscience with respect to gay marriage and everyone in the Baptist Union will be happy no matter what choice is made. Now here is true unity in diversity -- we can agree to disagree and still be Baptists... One wonders how long it will be before others use the same excuse of congregationalism to undercut their commitment to one man and one woman marriage and accept the freedom of others within the same "denomination" to disagree.... Could this portend the same kind of unity in diversity among evangelicals who do and who don't agree to gay marriage? Who else???
4 comments:
"The above statement by the British Baptists effectively says that while the Baptist Union has at its foundation a commitment to marriage between a man and a woman, British Baptist pastors and congregations are freed to act according to their own mind and conscience with respect to gay marriage and everyone in the Baptist Union will be happy no matter what choice is made."
Incredible!!
It would be like saying that while a synod of Lutheran congregations and pastors has at its foundation a commitment against syncretic worship practices, individual pastors in that synod are freed to engage in co-officiating with Mohammedan or other nonChristian clerics according to their own mind and conscience with respect to participating in syncretic prayer services, and everyone in that Lutheran synod will be happy no matter what choice is made, even going so far as the leader of that synod apologizing on a world-wide internet video for objecting to such syncretic practice.
The Baptist Union went liberal a very long time ago. When I lived in England I was a Reformed Baptist and our church had pulled out of the Baptist Union roughly fifty years ago. Spurgeon marked their decline as originating in the 19th century.
Just incredible!!
The above hypocritical statement by the British Baptists would be like a LCMS leader saying out of one side of his mouth:
"The proposed change in BSA policy on values and membership to include openly homosexual Scouts adversely affects, even supersedes, the authority of the local pastor and congregation by allowing and promoting a moral position that we as LCMS Lutherans believe is against the will of God and in opposition to Holy Scripture."
"Even if the decision of values and membership remains at the local level, Scouts from troops sponsored by congregations of the LCMS will be affected because, as part of the scouting program, they also participate at regional and national scouting activities."
... and saying out of the other side:
"The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod will respect the membership standard of the Boy Scouts of America, including the stipulation that membership in Scouting may not be denied to a child [\i{NOTE: Includes Scouts up to 18 years of age}] on the basis of sexual attraction alone"
"There is no LCMS Scouting policy that would forbid a troop from accepting a boy even if he were to make known his same-sex attraction. Decisions about individual membership are made locally on a case-by-case basis."
"[C]ongregations desiring to participate in Scouting should do so only after careful consideration and with a commitment to provide guidance and direction for the troop."
Cowardice.
Simple solution: Disfellowship those congregations who do not uphold and teach biblical sexuality. They can certainly be autonomous, but not in recognized formal fellowship with other churches.
I.e., ecclesial excommunication is called for. Not doing so is sinful cowardice, and in no way can it be construed as being "pastoral" or "loving."
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