Conversation on sin: Top religion stories of 1998

Christian Century, Jan 6, 1999

Beneath these issues, however, is a deeper disagreement about the nature of the ecumenical project. When Western Protestants talk of the unity of the church, they tend to have in mind a spiritual unity that transcends but does not erase dogmatic, moral and ecclesial divisions. For the Orthodox, on the other hand, the unity of the church is a concrete goal that entails the erasure of such divisions and a common agreement on doctrines, teaching and authority.

Speaking to the WCC assembly, Leonid Kishkovsky of the Orthodox Church in America pointed out an obvious but perhaps insufficiently appreciated reality: "The churches of the Christian East are not part of the story of the Reformation.... The theological debates and presuppositions of the Reformation are not ours." For this reason alone, the Orthodox churches are indispensable partners in the ecumenical conversation.

Controversy and conflict in the SBC

Again this year the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation's largest Protestant denomination, figured in the news in a prominent and often controversial way. At its June annual meeting, held in Salt Lake City, 8,200 messengers (delegates) overwhelmingly endorsed a statement on the family that affirmed not only their support for heterosexual marriage but also their belief that the Bible says wives should "submit ... graciously" to the leadership of their husbands. Now officially the 18th article of the SBC's confession of faith, known as the Baptist Faith and Message, the statement on the family is being used as a kind of litmus test of loyalty and orthodoxy; adherence to the amended confession has become a requirement for employment in SBC agencies and institutions.

The spousal-submission article prompted some moderate churches--such as First Baptist Church of Raleigh, North Carolina--to sever all ties with the Southern Baptist Convention. But the most significant development took place in Texas. The Baptist General Convention of Texas--with annual contributions to the SBC of around $43 million --is the largest state convention in the denomination. This year the state organization voted to amend its constitution in order to give itself more autonomy and to distance itself from the national SBC. Defying the SBC, it also passed a resolution declaring that men and women have "biblical equality" in the family relationship. Then came the split, with a group of SBC loyalists announcing that they were pulling out of the official state convention to form an organization of their own. Called the Southern Baptists of Texas, the new group represents about 180 churches of the approximately 5,700 Southern Baptist congregations in Texas. Its members consider themselves "the real Texas Baptists," said its budget chairman.

While challenging the conservative domination of the SBC, the Baptist General Convention of Texas has not chosen to throw its support exclusively to the SBC dissident movement known as the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Some Texas moderates are urging a complete break with the SBC and the formation of an entirely new Baptist denomination.