Homosexuality debate strains ABC - American Baptist Churches of the U.S.A

Christian Century, July 27, 1994

The surging debate over homosexuality and the churches is threatening to wash over yet another denomination, the American Baptist Churches. The ABC has managed to hold together a mix of liberal and conservative congregations for nearly 50 years. In recent months, however, conservative American Baptist churches have threatened to pull out of the denomination if regional or national leaders take actions that affirm homosexuality. At the same time, some liberal congregations that have joined a three-year-old association that welcomes gay, lesbian and bisexual persons are facing the prospect of being "disfellowshiped" from the denomination.

"I hope that we do the thing that will the least damage to our Christian brothers and sisters," said ABC President Hector Gonzalez, noting that no matter which way the denomination turns it stands to lose churches. While Lutherans, Presbyterians, Episcopalians and United Methodists have had contentious public battles over homosexuality in recent years, American Baptists have been debating the issue with less fanfare. "It's been a positional fight rather than a dog fight," said Robert Ross, an American Baptist and adjunct professor of American religious history at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California.

In a recent interview Gonzalez said the denomination, headquartered in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, is dedicated to following what the Bible teaches about homosexuality - not a simple matter, since parties on both sides of the issue look to scripture to support their positions. It's important not to let our sensitivities override our convictions," he maintained.

A number of specific situations are being watched closely by Baptists on either side of the homosexuality issue, but one matter in particular that has become something of a lightning rod is the request of an openly gay pastoral counselor for endorsement by the denomination. The endorsement is a requirement for membership in the nation's primary accrediting body for pastoral counselors. Last month Mark Crosby of Reading, Massachusetts, was denied that endorsement for the second time by a denominational committee because he is gay.

But Crosby says he will appeal the decision, and the matter may end up before the 1.5-million-member denomination's top policy-making body, the General Board, which has adopted two seemingly conflicting resolutions on homosexuality since 1992 - one declaring that homosexual practice is incompatible with Christian teaching, the other acknowledging a diversity of views on homosexuality within the ABC and calling for dialogue on the subject. American Baptists have long been leaders in the ecumenical movement and in social reform. Martin Luther King Jr., for example, was an American Baptist. But the denomination also has a strong evangelical contingent that believes the Bible speaks clearly against homosexuality.

Meanwhile, the issue is being played out elsewhere in the denomination:

* The American Baptist Churches of the Pacific Southwest is reviewing the ordination of a lesbian pastoral counselor who came out after her ordination in Phoenix.

* The American Baptist Churches of the West will vote this fall on making the General Board's 1992 anti-homosexuality resolution binding on the region. A group of conservative pastors there want four San Francisco Bay Area congregations to withdraw from an organization that affirms homosexuals, the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists, which has 21 member congregations nationwide. If the congregations refuse to withdraw, they will face the prospect of being disfellowshiped by the region, warned one pastor in the conservative group. The regional office has already taken action against one of the congregations - a new church in San Leandro, California - by withholding the church's mission funding.

* A Common Ground Conference, held in January in Mundelein, Illinois, brought together 20 American Baptist pastors, equally divided on the issue, for a discussion on biblical authority and homosexuality. According to one participant, the pastors left still divided - though they agreed to respect their diversity.