At its annual convention, Southern
Baptists voted to sever 125-year-old ties with a Texas church viewed
as tolerant of gay members, the Associated Baptist Press
reported.
Forth Worth's Broadway Baptist Church
was booted out because it included photos of gay members in the
church directory.
The Southern Baptist Convention opened
Monday in Louisville, Kentucky, where an executive committee
immediately convened and ruled against the church, saying that the
congregation had run afoul of SBC rules that ban churches from
affirming, approving or endorsing “homosexual behavior.”
Messengers (delegates) voted
overwhelmingly to act on the committees' unanimous ruling.
“We are disappointed with the
decision of the Southern Baptist Convention,” said Kathy Madeja,
the church's deacon chair, in a statement. “Our mission at
Broadway is and will continue to be consistent with the SBC's stated
enterprise of reaching the world for Christ. Like other SBC
churches, membership at Broadway is by acceptance of Jesus as Savior
and Lord and the experience of believers' baptism by immersion.”
“We do not believe Broadway has taken
any action which would justify its being deemed not in friendly
cooperation with the SBC,” Madeja added. “It is unfortunate that
the Southern Baptist Convention decided otherwise and has severed its
affiliation with Broadway Baptist Church.”
The nation's largest Protestant
denomination has been in decline since the early 80s when social
conservatives gained control and began rejecting Baptist liberals and
moderates, and condemned the policies of Bill Clinton and Jimmy
Carter.
Ironically, SBC President Rev. Johnny
Hunt, a pastor from Georgia, believes the path back to relevance is
for Southern Baptist churches to reach out to minorities. In
addressing thousands of attendees Tuesday, Hunt urged member churches
to engage “our brothers in ethnicity,” the AP reported.