Posted on 07/13/2003 1:43:26 PM PDT by nwrep
Jim Patterson
Associated Press
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 STANDING HER GROUND: April Baker, an associate pastor at Glendale Baptist Church in Nashville, Tenn., has brought condemnation upon the church from two Baptist conventions because she is a lesbian and her congregation has chosen to support her. |
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July 05, 2003 — 2:12 a.m.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The sermon at Glendale Baptist Church one recent Sunday recalled how Jesus mingled with tax collectors and prostitutes, refusing to snub people for the unpopular things they did.
"What does it mean that God's love is for everyone?" preached Glendale member Eileen Campbell-Reed, a doctoral student in religion.
"What will happen when we move from the center to the margins, and make friends . . . with those that our society smugly thinks of as the disinherited and marginalized? What will happen when they become our heroes and heroines of friendship and faithfulness, forgiveness and grace?"
These were not rhetorical questions.
Listening in the front row in her black sacramental robe was April Baker — an unlikely combination of lesbian living openly with a partner and associate pastor of a Baptist church in the South.
Glendale's half-century associations with the Tennessee Baptist Convention and the Southern Baptist Convention have been dissolved over the past month because of Baker.
Baptist officials said the church's choice to support Baker, currently its only full-time minister, left them with no choice.
"In having a homosexual or lesbian minister, they are clearly endorsing homosexual behavior, and thus have defined themselves outside of the Southern Baptist Convention," said Richard Land, president of the SBC's public policy arm.
Glendale's 250-member congregation long ago forged bonds with more liberal Baptist umbrella organizations, including the Alliance of Baptists, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America.
But the church had belonged to the SBC and TBC since its founding in 1951. The loss of tradition hurts, as does the rejection, members of the congregation say.
At the Sunday service in a simple sanctuary decorated with homemade banners and mobiles of paper birds were a diverse mix of members — elderly people, a city councilman, a teenager with a mohawk and several children in Tennessee Titans jerseys.
Glendale has long been known as a liberal church, but not one that particularly caters to gays.
When the search process for an associate pastor turned up two of three candidates who disclosed they were lesbians, church leaders took the matter to the congregation. It decided to pick the best candidate for the job, regardless of sexual orientation.
Since hiring Baker last summer, the church has drawn unwanted attention from a local conservative talk radio show and pickets one Sunday by an anti-gay group.
Stewart Clifton, a lay leader, said Glendale wasn't out to court controversy.
"It's something we kind of fell into step by step," he said. "You don't ask people to apply, and based on something they have no control over, then say, 'Sorry, some extraneous thing is going to disqualify you.' "
Glendale bills itself as "A Caring Community of Equality and Grace." In the early 1970s, the church supported the desegregation of Nashville public schools and lost a large part of its membership.
Nationally, conservatives overpowered moderates and liberals to take over Southern Baptist leadership two decades ago. Since 1988 the denomination has severed ties with more than 10 other congregations over the issue of homosexuality.
"Not many Baptist churches — moderate, fundamentalist or otherwise — have openly lesbian staff members," said Bill Turner, a retired Baptist minister who headed the prominent South Main Baptist Church in Houston for 16 years. "Sexual identity is an issue that's been effectively dodged for some years. Even in moderate churches, there's usually a 'love the sinner, hate the sin' mind-set."
At the SBC's annual meeting in Phoenix last month, leaders proclaimed an initiative to help homosexuals "find freedom from this sinful, destructive lifestyle."
Baker, a 39-year-old graduate of the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., has worked as a counselor to women felons but never before held a minister's job.
She becomes visibly uncomfortable when asked about the controversy over her sexual orientation. She frowns and pauses several moments to gather her thoughts.
She says the denomination has "terribly wounded" gay people.
"I say that the Southern Baptist Convention left me, because the SBC as it is today is not the same spiritual and theological home in which I grew up," Baker said. "I think that there's a distinct call to the church to push the edges of inclusiveness."
When Kreis White's family was considering whether to join Glendale, he was told about Baker's sexual orientation. He didn't see it as relevant.
"My kids got to help in the soup kitchen yesterday, and Habitat for Humanity is a blast. The activism is what attracted me," he said.
Baker's sexual orientation is "such a small fraction of who she is," White said.
"She is also a Braves fan, which I find horribly compelling. She is a gifted speaker, a great pulpit speaker. She is a very spiritual leader for the kids."
IF I knew photoshop I'd edit the wording.
Clearly, the AP is pumping this story for far more than it's worth.
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At the meeting Whetham shared with the Glendale group, which included the lesbian minister, why it was necessary to seek some action of separation.
Whetham said the best case scenario for the Executive Board would be for Glendale to simply leave the TBC.
"They had a dilemma with that scenario. In reality, most of their members who did not agree with the church's action had already left the church. There were some, however, who supported the action but would find it impossible to vote to leave the convention," she told the board.
"Their best case scenario was for us to vote them out, and they would go quietly. Where once they had appreciated the attention of the press, they now found it not to be positive and wanted to avoid it if possible."
It was apparent both sides agreed on a separation, Whetham said. The TBC group left and worked that afternoon on the wording of what would become the recommendation to the Executive Board. The statement was faxed to Glendale and was later approved by the church.
Whetham said a special meeting of the Executive Board was called because "our conviction was that this should be done as quickly as possible to avoid word leaking to the press prematurely."
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Welcome to Canada.
When the search process for an associate pastor turned up two of three candidates who disclosed they were lesbians, church leaders took the matter to the congregation. It decided to pick the best candidate for the job, regardless of sexual orientation.
So they knew what they were getting... And TWO of the three were homosexuals? Is being a preacher the new profession for them?
"You don't ask people to apply, and based on something they have no control over, then say, 'Sorry, some extraneous thing is going to disqualify you.' "
Something they have no control over? So he's buying the genetic thing? Extraneous? Meaning unnecessary, not germaine to being a minister of God????
Glendale bills itself as "A Caring Community of Equality and Grace." In the early 1970s, the church supported the desegregation of Nashville public schools and lost a large part of its membership.
So they're comparing people being upset about segregation to being upset about homosexuals being ministers of God.
When Kreis White's family was considering whether to join Glendale, he was told about Baker's sexual orientation. He didn't see it as relevant. "My kids got to help in the soup kitchen yesterday, and Habitat for Humanity is a blast. The activism is what attracted me," he said.
Nope, it's not relevant that a minister of God practices sodomy which is condemned in the Book she is preaching from. More important is that she is a social activist.
Baker's sexual orientation is "such a small fraction of who she is," White said. "She is also a Braves fan, which I find horribly compelling. She is a gifted speaker, a great pulpit speaker. She is a very spiritual leader for the kids."
This guy is worse than lame. It's as though he is being purposely shallow. It's more important that she is a sports fan than a pervert? He is obviously a homo-promoter and supporter, and at the same time wants to be a feel-good "Christian". Good for the Baptists that broke off from these deviants.
Put a sarcasm tag on comments like that. Anybody familiar with the SBC would recognize that as sarcasm. But there may be lurkers who aren't familiar with the SBC.
The quotations of other Scriptures out-of-context is further evidence that this church will soon have "Ichabod" written over it's doors.
They will probably learn soon that ideas have consequences.
Well first off your wrong. The Anabaptists were always separate from the Catholics. The initial churches did not have the kind of hierachial government that the Catholic church has. And the Orthodox catholics split from the church at Rome long before the Protestants did. And it's the Roman Catholic church that changed over time, getting away from the gospels and embracing evil doctrines that eventually caused the Protestants to separate. Even the Catholic church admits that it's leadership was evil during some of those times. That's why they call them "anti-popes".
It is sad, Jesus prayed for unity among the believers. But there is more unity among the believers than you are giving them credit for. Most Christian denominations agree about the most important doctrines the nature of God and the nature of Salvation. And they acknowledge that the other denominations agree on those important things. Everthing else is relatively minor.
Now there are some groups that claim to be Christian but change the nature of salvation or the nature of God. Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses are a couple of these. Most Christians organizations distance themselves from these.
The scripture however hasn't changed. And it's the scripture that keeps us mindful of what is important. When you see groups like this embracing homosexual leaders, it's because they have ignored the scripture, not unlike the Catholic church did way back in the 1600's.
First, you need to understand that churches are like people. Each one has it's own personality. Each individual church even within denominations has it's own personality. Just like the seven churches at the beginning of Revelations each had some strengths and each had some weaknesses.
Second, it would probably do you good to go through a study like "Experiencing God" if you can find one. That study perhaps better than any other demonstrates how the church is supposed to work and how the various members within it work.
Third, if you can find a course like "Masterlife". That is an excellent discipleship course that will teach you the spiritual disciplines you need. That course will help you understand scripture much better. It will help you understand how people mature in Christ. And it will show you how the different disciplines equip you to be able to carry out various acts of ministry.
Lastly, don't expect churches to be perfect. They are all a bunch of sinners saved by grace. But do look around and pray about what church to be in.
If that is what is happening then shame on that pastor. I expect the left to behave the way they do. But we cannot spare even one conservative minister in the fight to reclaim the denominations from those that are destroying their witness.
Hmmm....no mention of Jesus
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