How Brish Baptists have sort of allowed gay marriag, but still aren't all that keen on the ia

Contents:

• BAPTIST CHURCH VOT TO OK GAY MARRIAGE
• THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTN PASS ROLUTN ON GAY MARRIAGE
• WHAT DO THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT GAY MARRIAGE?
• HOW BRISH BAPTISTS HAVE SORT OF ALLOWED GAY MARRIAG, BUT STILL AREN'T ALL THAT KEEN ON THE IA
• WHERE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, OTHER RELIGNS STAND ON GAY MARRIAGE
• WHO STRONGLY FAVOR OR FAVOR GAY MARRIAGE WHO ARE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTN

BAPTIST CHURCH VOT TO OK GAY MARRIAGE

The Southern Baptist Conventn, the largt Prottant nomatn the Uned Stat, wh over 16 ln members, has discrimated agast gay and lbian people for more than a quarter-century. In a 1996 “Rolutn on a Christian Rponse to Homosexualy, ” the SBC clared that “even a sire to engage a homosexual relatnship is always sful, impure, gradg, shameful, unnatural, cent and perverted. In the 2000 Baptist Fah and Msage statement, the SBC equat "homosexualy" wh adultery and pornography, clarg, “In the spir of Christ, Christians should oppose … all forms of sexual immoraly, cludg adultery, homosexualy and pornography.

The SBC lls on s members to a “love the sner but hate the s” approach and affirms the possibily of reorientatn om same-sex attractn and supports “ex-gay” mistri. As the SBC webse stat: “Christians n, and should, mister to homosexuals a kd, yet firm manner.

The church should never turn s back on homosexuals who are searchg and seekg to heal the hurts wh their liv.

THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTN PASS ROLUTN ON GAY MARRIAGE

Homosexualy is not a ‘valid alternative liftyle. The same remptn available to all sners is available to homosexuals. It lled on "Southern Baptists not only to stand agast same-sex unns but to monstrate our love for those practicg homosexualy by sharg wh them the fivg and transformg power of the gospel of J Christ (1 Corthians 6:9-11).

In June 2010, a rolutn (On Homosexualy and the Uned Stat Milary) passed that stat: “we oppose changg current law to normalize the open prence of homosexuals the armed forc, and sist on keepg the fdg of Congrs that stas current law, which stat that even ‘the prence the armed forc’ of persons monstratg ‘a propensy or tent to engage homosexual acts’ creat ‘an unacceptable risk to... The church has long clud members who are openly gay and two years ago ordaed a gay an.

It was one of the church the area to part ways wh the Southern Baptist Conventn over disagreement wh polici such as the nventn’s membership ban on church which “act to affirm, approve or endorse homosexual behavr. A 1992 nomatnal vote termed “the practice of homosexualy” to be “patible wh Christian teachg.

WHAT DO THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT GAY MARRIAGE?

5-ln member parent nomatn after s lears refed to addrs plats about the membership of “welg and affirmg” church, or church that accept as members unrepentant homosexuals, the nomatn. However, November 2005, the General Board voted to amend the document entled We Are Amerin Baptists by statg that Amerin Baptists are a people who “subm to the teachg of Scripture that God’s sign for sexual timacy plac wh the ntext of marriage between one man and one woman, and acknowledge that the practice of homosexualy is patible wh Biblil teachg. However, several regns there are statements that a ndidate mt sign statg they are not a "practicg homosexual" prr to ordatn.

The board’s actn mak fal the separatn of the 300-church regn om the Amerin Baptist Church (USA) Valley Fe, cisn after eight months of discsn and a vote on the part of the regn’s church late April to remend that the board whdraw over the refal of the ABC (USA) to al wh the acceptance of church wh lax polici on homosexualy the nomatn.

HOW BRISH BAPTISTS HAVE SORT OF ALLOWED GAY MARRIAG, BUT STILL AREN'T ALL THAT KEEN ON THE IA

Many of the nomatn’s self-erng regns, such as the Evergreen Associatn Washgton and the Rochter-Genee regn New York, openly accept church disassociated om other regns bee they accept unrepentant homosexuals as members. The Indiana-Kentucky regn has also proposed a change the nomatn’s bylaws that will not allow church to transfer to another regn when removed over the issue of homosexualy. Homosexualy-iendly regns oppose the new bylaw and have petned to reject the proposed whdrawal of the Pacific Southwt regn, wh s church California, Hawaii, Nevada and Arizona, touched off a wave of rpons om lears of the ABC (USA).

The group supports the appotment of openly homosexual misters and the acceptance of the homosexual liftyle Baptist Print Ken Perks said his anizatn has no official posn on the spl between the Pacific Southwt regn and the ABC (USA), but that he believed homosexualy should not be a dividg issue. “I believe is possible to mata uny the ABC whout doctral agreement over homosexualy, ” Perks said.

Perks said he did not know what other regns might do rponse to the whdrawal of the Pacific Southwt regn, but his rponse reveals the growg number of Amerin Baptist regns that wele church open to the acceptance of the homosexual liftyle. ”But the members of the Pacific Southwt regn’s board sist that they ma the right cisn by followg the teachgs of Scripture on homosexualy the church. He said the letter that “homosexualy is patible wh Christian teachg.

WHERE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, OTHER RELIGNS STAND ON GAY MARRIAGE

The Southern Baptist Conventn whdrew om the BWA last year, part, after the anizatn refed to addrs the issue of the acceptance of homosexualy the Amerin Baptist church. Southwtern Baptist Theologil Semary Print Paige Patterson, then a member of the SBC’s BWA study mtee, said Southern Baptists uld “no longer afford to be aligned any way” wh any group that ndon the practice of homosexualy church. The executive members of the ABC said they will voluntarily halt the ordatn of homosexual dividuals as well as the blsg of homosexual unns a statement livered to all s churchThe Amerin Baptist Church (ABC) regnal executive misters issued a pastoral letter that lled on all s misters to halt the blsg of same-sex marriag and the ordatn of homosexuals, to reaffirm the nomatn’s tradnal view on the issue and to quell the heated bat between liberal and nservative factns wh the church.

"The ntroversy over homosexualy has nsumed our agenda, our discsn time, and our energy; yet the ntroversy still threatens to break apart as Amerin Baptists. The prevailg view among Amerin Baptists is that "the practice of homosexualy is patible wh Christian teachg, ”” the executiv noted their ABC was at the center of a Baptist-wi ntroversy surroundg homosexualy and the church earlier this year, when the world’s largt Baptist nomatn – the Southern Baptist Conventn (SBC) – broke off om the world’s largt Baptist anizatn, the Baptist World Alliance (BWA) over theologil disput.

Durg the SBC’s annual nventn, when the cisn to break was falized, an SBC executive poted to the ABC as one of the “liberal” members of the BWA that allow the ordatn of gay clergy and the blsg of homosexual the ABC, there is no law set to disciple pastors who ci to orda homosexual dividuals. Nohels, the ABC executive nclud their statement wh a ll to place a moratorium on gay ordatns and unn blsgs. The seven pot statement also clud a ll to rea om “makg stereotypil statements about homosexuals” and “participatg homophobic behavr.

WHO STRONGLY FAVOR OR FAVOR GAY MARRIAGE WHO ARE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTN

'"The ntroversy over homosexualy has nsumed our agenda, our discsn time, and our energy; yet the ntroversy still threatens to break apart as Amerin Baptists. The prevailg view among Amerin Baptists is that "the practice of homosexualy is patible wh Christian teachg. We will voluntarily rea om remendg or approvg persons who are practicg homosexuals (gay and lbian persons) for posns and mistri on the regnal and natnal levels of nomatnal life.

We will voluntarily rea om makg stereotypil statements about homosexuals, participatg homophobic behavr, makg unrmed assumptns about homosexuals, or om participatg public monstratns advotg on eher si of this issue. While the Bible do addrs homosexualy, do not explicly mentn gay marriage/same-sex marriage. It is clear, however, that the Bible nmns homosexualy as an immoral and unnatural s.