Posted on 08/07/2005 5:52:56 PM PDT by SmithL
The top legislative body of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is set to take key votes this week on ordaining gays and blessing same-sex unions. Conflicts over what the Bible says about homosexuality have been tearing at Protestant denominations for years. Here is a description of how the debate is playing out in major American churches:
_UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST: The liberal, 1.3 million-member denomination passed a resolution July 4 endorsing same-sex marriage, making it the largest Christian denomination to do so. The church has been ordaining gays for decades.
_EPISCOPAL CHURCH: This U.S. branch of Anglicanism sparked a crisis in the global Anglican Communion by confirming its first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire. Controversy over Robinson has battered the 2.3 million-member American church for the past two years and Anglicans worldwide are struggling to find a way to stay together.
_AMERICAN BAPTIST CHURCHES USA: Tensions over homosexuality are heating up in the 1.4 million-member denomination; its leader pleaded for unity at a churchwide meeting last month. The denomination bars ordination of partnered gays, but several congregations are ignoring the prohibition. Some conservatives are threatening to leave unless those churches are reined in.
_UNITED METHODIST CHURCH: The denomination of 8.2 million members last year upheld its ban on ordaining sexually active gays. Recently, two lesbian ministers who have partners were separately tried by the church on charges they violated that rule. One woman was acquitted; the other's case is before the highest church court.
_PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (U.S.A.): A task force for the denomination of 2.4 million people is scheduled to finish a report this summer on how to overcome severe disagreements on gay relationships. The church currently bans sexually active gays from the clergy ranks.
I can't imagine any Baptist Church going against the word of God and ordaining gays.
Yes there is such great conflicts over what the Bible says. In one place the Bible refers to it as an abomination and in another place it refers to it as an abomination. Who knows what is really meant...
If I understand it, it is one of the very few modernist/apostate Baptist groups. Notice that there are 28 Baptist organizations in the United States alone and ABC-USA is one of the smallest now.
And we haven't referred to Independent Unaffiliated Baptist churches (there are many such examples: Jerry Falwell's Thomas Road church is one example) yet.
Agreed but I wouldn't be too smug. I think we're lucky more than anything else that we haven't been sucked into the religious left as so many of the "mainstream" Protestant churches have. In this case, our representation in Rome has been invaluable. But, unfortunately, the late Monsignor Egans and Father Phlegers are out there.
I find it astonishing that despite witnessing the catastrophe that had befallen the Catholic Church, Protestant denominations would knowingly wade into those treacherous waters.
It appears that the Southern Baptist Convention might disagree with that statement. They list Thomas Road in their directory
http://www.sbc.net/churchsearch/church.asp?ID=2000%2D24502
And Fallwell has attended the SBC.
Many Independent Baptist churches choose to affiliate themselves with the SBC for the sole purpose of missions and nothing else. While they are in actuality affiliated with the SBC most that do this sort of thing still claim no affiliation.
Our church is one of these. And even though our pastor is on the SBC payroll teaching church growth for them, on all of our literature and our website where affiliations are mentioned you will see " we choose to affiliate with the SBC only for the purposes of missions."
If you do a search of the Thomas Road web site, you will find no mention of any affiliation with the SBC and the words "Southern Baptist" mentioned only once.
later pingout.
My thoughts exactly. The conflicts are really between sin and God.
The churches shouldn't even be considering such stuff as ordaining homosexuals, period. As far as I know, Christianity has a taboo on homosexuality, or it used to, anyway.
The Catholics simply tend to ignore the problem by allowing homosexual priests. There have been many posts on this site by the Catholic faithful about priests who are practicing homosexuals.
Just because it isn't official policy of the Church doesn't mean anything. To establish a policy against homosexuals and then ignore it isn't any better than having a policy in favor of homosexuals IMO.
Officially, it may be condemned, but the practice still did a lot of damage and destruction despite the proclamations.
Southern Baptists churches are obviously not in agreement with this group of American Baptist. Inflitration of the wolves into the flock to corrupt and destroy....
I would say it's more than luck.
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