Atlanta association loses funding
for not ousting gay-friendly churches
___By Bob Allen
___Associated Baptist Press
___ATLANTA (ABP)--Atlanta Baptist Association voted Jan. 30 not to expel two gay-friendly churches. It is thought to be the first action by an ecclesiastical body recognized by the Southern Baptist Convention that tolerates homosexuality.
___The vote should not be construed as an endorsement of homosexuality, though, according to a news release from the association. Rather, the vote "affirms the longstanding Baptist polity of local church autonomy."
___Nevertheless, the action prompted immediate talk of defections by conservative churches and resulted in defunding of association ministries by the SBC and Georgia Baptist Convention.
___The association voted 253-164 by secret ballot to retain fellowship with Oakhurst Baptist Church in Decatur, Ga., and Virginia-Highland Baptist Church in Atlanta, two churches ousted from the Georgia Baptist Convention in 1999 for their acceptance of gays.
___Both churches welcome people who are openly gay and lesbian into their church membership and include them in leadership positions.
___According to a story in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, some churches have indicated they are likely to leave the association in protest of the vote. If several do so, they might join together in a new association in the two-county area that makes up Atlanta Association.
___Bobby Atkins, pastor of the 7,000-member Rehoboth Baptist Church, was quoted as saying his church would likely discuss pulling out. He said he intended to bring the matter before the church's leadership.
___The vote could cost the association more than monies they receive from those churches. It also could raise questions about other funding in the form of partnerships with Georgia Baptists and the Southern Baptist Convention.
___Baptist associations are regional groupings of Southern Baptist churches that also relate to a state convention and the SBC. While associations are autonomous from state and national bodies, their work is closely intertwined. Member churches support them directly, but associations also receive denominational funding for certain programs.
___The Georgia ccnvention and the SBC's North American Mission Board have announced they would withdraw funding from the Atlanta association because the association did not remove the two gay-friendly churches.
___The Georgia convention's administration committee voted Feb. 6 to cut off all special request, Bold Mission Thrust and similar funds to the association--funds used for witness and ministry during activities such as large sporting events in Atlanta.
___The administration committee also will recommend to the convention's executive committee in March that the state convention continue its funding of joint missionary personnel only through Dec. 31.
___Likewise, NAMB will cease funding six career missionaries in the Atlanta association, three of whom serve in inner-city ministry centers, two as associational staff and one as a church planter. NAMB's share of the salary and benefits for those positions is about $62,000. Another six church planters, some of whom are bivocational, receive financial supplements totaling about $15,000.
___"We do not believe the church can condone ongoing behaviors that the Scripture clearly labels as sin," NAMB President Bob Reccord said. "One role of the church in today's society is to serve as a conscience for the community even when it is uncomfortable and unpopular to do so.
___"Some claim that even Christ forgave the woman caught in adultery, but they conveniently forget that he also charged her to 'go and sin no more,'" Reccord said.
___SBC President James Merritt, who is pastor of a church in a neighboring association, called the action "a sad commentary on the Atlanta Baptist Association."
___"If (homosexuality) doesn't disqualify you from membership in the association, what would?" Merritt asked. "Can a church practice open adultery, polygamy, desecration of the Lord's Supper and be a part of the Atlanta Baptist Association?"
___Robert White, executive director of the Georgia Baptist Convention, strongly criticized the action. "The issue that concerns me is that it sends a signal not only to Atlanta and Georgia, but to the nation, that a group of Baptist churches in Atlanta has moved to affirm homosexuality," he said. "This sends a terrible signal.
___"The crisis I see is that if you take the position of local church autonomy as more important than dealing with the problem of sin, then it creates a very dangerous situation for the church," White said. "Then you have churches that will make their own decisions about whether or not something is a sin."
___Joel Harrison, executive director of the association, said he hopes to find a "Christian resolution" to the conflict.
___"I'm not bitter over this, but I do want to say again that the association does not affirm homosexuality," he said. "I'm praying, and we have our people praying about it. I'm working to try to see how we can come to a Christian resolution."
___With additional reporting from Baptist Press
The Baptist Standard
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