August 25, 2005

VALLEY FORGE, Pa. – The Ministers Council Senate of American Baptist Churches USA has defeated an amendment to its bylaws regarding qualifications for membership, proposed by the American Baptist Churches of the Pacific Southwest Ministers Council. The vote taken Aug. 22 – 32 yes and 30 no – was short of the two-thirds affirmative responses needed for passage.

Prior to the vote on Aug. 22, at the annual meeting of the Senate in Green Lake, Wis., "It was clear from this discussion that the senators viewed the issue as multi-faceted rather than as merely a referendum on the rightness or wrongness of the practice of homosexuality," said the Rev. Dr. C. Jeff Woods, associate general secretary for regional ministries. "Indeed, several senators expressed that very sentiment. Some of the facets addressed included the autonomy of the local councils; the rights and responsibilities of the national senate; the theological, spiritual, and political dimensions of the issue; discipline vs. exclusion; pleas vs. commands; love vs. holiness; the non-monolithic character of local councils and regions; definitions regarding specific language; the issue of biblical interpretation; concurrent denominational events; and the amount of time spent on this single issue."

The motion to adopt the amendment stated: "Senators will be clergy in good standing in the American Baptist Churches who uphold the Covenant and Code of Ethics for ministerial Leaders of the American Baptist Churches, and maintain sexual integrity consistent with the teaching of Scripture that sexual intimacy is to be experienced between a man and a woman committed to each other in marriage and with the policy of the American Baptist Churches in the U. S. A. that ‘the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.' The Executive Committee of the Ministers Council shall ensure that Senators meet the qualifications of this article."

Accompanying the proposed amendment was a rationale, which in part noted: "We are submitting the following proposal... in order to bring the practice of the Ministers Council into greater harmony with the policy of the American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A..... The Scriptures teach that God's gracious creation intent is for sexual intimacy to be experienced between a man and a woman committed to each other in marriage, and that the Church should minister compassionately and lovingly to all sexually broken people, pointing to the availability of God's grace and healing to all who turn to God in faith and repentance......."

"On Saturday evening during their small group committee meetings, the senators were invited to give their responses to the summaries of the Jerusalem Council meetings," Woods noted. "On Sunday afternoon, the senators spent significant time in prayer and discernment and were also offered an opportunity to share their personal thoughts regarding the proposed amendment."

On the day following the vote, Aug. 23, a new statement in the form of a resolution was introduced, discussed and affirmed by vote (48 yes, 13 no):

"Whereas a year ago an amendment to our bylaws proposing to govern the selection of senators to the Minister's Council Senate was introduced for consideration, and "Whereas the Ministers Council determined to spend a year discerning the convictions of its members through a series of meetings patterned after the Jerusalem Council in the Book of Acts, and

"Whereas the final outcome of those meetings and the individual responses received revealed a strong commitment throughout our constituency for the Baptist principles of the authority of scripture, autonomy, and interdependence,

"Therefore, the Minister's Council Senate:

"Reaffirms that all representatives to the Ministers Council Senate must be members in good standing who uphold the biblical principles embodied in the covenant and code of ethics for ministerial leaders of American Baptist Churches;

"Urges our constituent councils to give due consideration to all the policies, resolutions, and statements of concern of the ABC/USA when electing representatives to the Minister's Council Senate." – Resolved this twenty-third day of August, 2005 in Green Lake, Wisconsin"

The vote followed a year-long process of dialog and discussion on the subject of homosexuality afforded through numerous "Jerusalem Councils" held in American Baptist settings across the country. The Senate at its meeting last summer voted to undertake that process before taking action on the amendment that initially was received at that time.

In her report to the Senate, Ministers Council Executive Director the Rev. Dr. Kate Harvey, urged: "Let us now focus on the work set before us, to be as the Ministers Council who in the mind of God we exist to be. We can never go back to where we were just over a year ago as we strategized to strengthen constituent Councils, nor would we wish to. The journey has been long and arduous, and we have learned much along the way. But we can and will go back to that goal, and we need one another for the work. We also need one another for the sake of wrestling with where God would have us go. None of us fully possesses the mind of God and it is together that we discern more completely the fullness of God's truth.

"Sisters and brothers of the Senate, as I have observed you during this challenging Senate session I have found you beautiful. Persons who have come from opposite sides of the country and very different convictions have sat at tables and walked the Green Lake grounds and prayed together. You have developed relationships, treated one another with remarkable respect, felt God's Spirit moving among you. Tomorrow you will go home to tell what happened here. Along with the vote I ask you to remember and report how God has touched all our hearts as we have wrestled with Scriptures and with persons from the other side. And if your Senate term has not yet expired I look for you to return next summer ready to focus together on the work Christ has called us to do. We are back on mission."

American Baptist News Service