Posted on 07/28/2012 6:28:26 AM PDT by madprof98
NEW YORK — A long-serving Air Force chaplain has left the Southern Baptist Convention after the conservative denomination publicly questioned his attendance at a same-sex civil union ceremony at his base in New Jersey.
The chaplain, Col. Timothy Wagoner, is remaining on active duty and has affiliated with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, which holds more moderate views on homosexuality and some other issues than the Southern Baptists.
"I find very little that is more important and nothing that is more exhilarating than providing for the religious freedoms and spiritual care of all service members and their families — and will joyfully continue to do so," Wagoner said Friday in an e-mail to The Associated Press.
Wagoner — the senior chaplain at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst — had made clear he would not officiate at such ceremonies, which the Southern Baptists do not condone.
However, Wagoner had told The AP — in an interview a few days after the ceremony — that he decided to attend as a show of support for the base community, for Umali, and for the Evangelical Lutheran chaplain, Col. Kay Reeb, who presided over it.
"I wouldn't miss it," Wagoner said, describing the ceremony as beautiful.
Professor David Key, director of Baptist Studies at Emory University's Candler School of Theology, predicted that Wagoner's departure from the Southern Baptists might be the first of many as their chaplains try to reconcile conflicting loyalties.
"The SBC has been defined by its anti-gay stance," Key said. "They now find themselves not just out of synch with growing segments of society but also out of synch with the U.S. military." . . . "Showing affirmation for gay and lesbian soldiers is what the military wants, and exactly what the SBC doesn't want. At the moment, it's irreconcilable."
(Excerpt) Read more at ajc.com ...
How do you envision God's judgment of Christians?
“How do you envision God’s judgment of Christians?”
The same as the prophets in Israel who suffered when Israel was invaded.
“Some returned to their womenfolk from certain death, while others were tortured and refused to be ransomed, because they wanted to deserve a more honourable resurrection in the world to come. Others were exposed to the test of public mockery and flogging, and to the torture of being left bound in prison. They were killed by stoning, by being sawn in two; they were tempted by specious promises of release and then were killed with the sword. Many became refugees with nothing but sheepskins or goatskins to cover them. They lost everything and yet were spurned and ill-treated by a world that was too evil to see their worth. They lived as vagrants in the desert, on the mountains, or in caves or holes in the ground.
39-40 All these won a glowing testimony to their faith, but they did not then and there receive the fulfilment of the promise. God had something better planned for our day, and it was not his plan that they should reach perfection without us.”
I expect persecution of Christians to come first. Try refusing to rent a basement apartment to gays, or refusing to bake them a wedding cake, and see who the law & government support. Given the changes in the military since I entered in 83, I fully expect pressure to be put on Christian chaplains to accept homosexuality. I fully expect a Christian Sq/CC to face punishment for discriminating against a faggot when he was really ‘discriminating’ against poor job performance.
And in time, God will judge the nation. Those Christians alive in that day will suffer in this life, but find their reward in the next.
Paragraph B discusses losing an endorsement. Paragraph C discusses seeking a change in endorsement.
Under paragraph B:
“the CCH will then notify the Chaplain of the loss of endorsement and offer the following 4 options:
(1) Seek a new ecclesiastical endorsement from an AFCB Listed Endorsing Agent. If another ecclesiastical endorse-ment is not obtained, the Chaplain will undergo involuntary separation in accordance with AR 600–8–24 or AR 135–175...”
You can say that again! :-)
BARF!!!!
This is what happens when you don't have a magesterium and you follow Sola Scriptura
S N I C K E R ..... obviously a magesterium and ignorance of THE Sola Scriputra at work here.
I do not follow mammon and their traditions. See now I have a brain and it is through that despised by some Sola Scripture that I can with confidence know the Chaplain has turned his back upon the Creator. Oh and I have no affiliation with Southern Baptists, but can agree with them when they are 'right'. Just as I can agree with any of the other multitude of Christian divisions when they allow the Sola Scripture stand without having to whitewash it into their traditions. Man sure needs to have his fingerprints all over the simplicity of the WORD... which according to John 1:1 is God.
“Show of hands, Any Catholics NOT surprised by this. / This is what happens when you don’t have a magesterium and you follow Sola Scriptura”
What part of his LEAVING the SBC did you miss? He quit before the SBC could throw him out.
Maybe you guys ought to do the same to some of your heretical nuns who enjoy giving your Pope the middle finger salute.
A google search of "gay catholic priest" returned 14.5 million hits.
Listen after you pull your head out of your rectum. Do a google search of Baptist predator, abusive protestants ministers, abusive JW, Homosexual C of E etc..... and let me know how that works out for you. The difference and it is a huge difference is that the Catholic Church will not bow down to the whims of society and go which ever way the wind blows.We have always and will continue to view marriage as a scared institution created by God as a union between a man and a woman. members of our church may be sinners and see things differently, but we have an official policy, which none of the others have.
I think I may frame that!
1. The article is about a chaplain who left the denomination because they won’t compromise on homosexual marriage.
2. You said that happens because this denomination doesn’t have a magesterium.
3. I made the observation that according to Google, it happens a lot in a denomination that has a magesterium.
4. You made a personal attack and commented that other denominations have the same problem yours does.
5. You defended your denomination saying it continues to view marriage as a sacred institution created by God as a union between a man and a woman, which is exactly what the denomination that the chaplain left teaches. In fact, that’s WHY the chaplain left.
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