wfn.org | UCC Synod approves ongoing dialogue with Alliance of Baptists

[George Conklin <gconklin@wfn.org>]

United Church of Christ
Office of Communication
700 Prospect Ave.
Cleveland, OH 44115
contact: Barbara Powell
phone: 216-736-2222
email: powellb@ucc.org
http://www.ucc.org

PROVIDENCE, RI - July 6 1999 - 
Synod approves ongoing dialogue with Alliance of Baptists
by Curt Miller
        Hunh!? The United Church of Christ in dialogue with Baptists?
Ahhyup ...
thanks to a resolution passed by UCC General Synod delegates Monday, July 5.  
        However, these Baptists are “welcoming and affirming.”  These Baptists
claim New England roots.  These Baptists encourage their congregations to call
women to their pulpits.  They’re  they’re ecumenists!  In short, these are not
Southern Baptists.  They’re pioneering the emerging movement called the
“Alliance of Baptists.” 
         In 1986, as conservatives were solidifying command of the Southern
Baptist Convention, 
a core group of 33 progressives sounded the call for a new movement of Baptists
dedicated to the preservation of historic Baptist principles, freedoms and
traditions. 
        “We go back to Roger Williams in Rhode Island  not just to the (1845)
foundation of the Southern Baptist Convention,” says the Rev. Stan Hastey, a
doctor of church history and Executive Director of the 60,000 member Alliance.
Williams, an English Puritan, given the buckled boot by Massachusetts Puritans,
founded the first Baptist church in America in Providence in 1639.
        Freedom in matters of religion is the “singular Baptist contribution to
the social order of this country,” says Hastey; “freedom of individual
conscience, freedom of local congregations, and religious freedom for all.”  
        Contrary to the Baptists’ founding principle of separation of
church and
state, Hastey thinks the Southern Baptist Convention has made a proposal of
“marriage to the state” through its alliance with the Christian Coalition.  
        Hastey grew up in the SBC.  He and his colleagues felt no renegades’
exhiliration in breaking away from the Convention. They grieved. But “what we
considered to be an incalculable loss has turned out to be a gift of grace as
we learned the history of what it means to be Baptist,” he says. 
        The Alliance has a social justice committee. “We are passionate about
Cuba  ending the U.S. economic embargo and restoring diplomatic relations,”
says Hastey. The Alliance is also working with a Cleveland group on securing
the release of Puerto Rican political prisoners. Hastey grants that the
movement’s nascent social justice agenda is modest alongside that of the United
Church.  He says at this point in its development, the Alliance wants to be
effective in its advocacy ministry and avoid spreading itself too thin.
        “We are the first Baptist group of any persuasion to declare ourselves
welcoming and affirming to gay and lesbian persons. I’m very proud of that,”
Hastey beams.  The Alliance urges its churches to be open and affirming in
nurturing persons for ordination as well.  
        The Alliance has applied for membership in the National Council of
Churches of Christ in the USA.  Alliance Baptists hope for final membership
approval in the year 2000.  And, oh  baptized as an infant in another
tradition?  You’re welcome both in an Alliance congregation  and at the
communion table.  
        The UCC and the Alliance first got acquainted during discussions
about a
new church start in Longwood, Fla. A small Allianceafflilated congregation drew
UCC members who didn’t have a church home in the area.  In 1994 UCC people and
the progressive Baptists drew together to form a Longwood Hills Congregational
Church, now a United Church congregation of 149 members. 
        National setting diplomatic exchanges have been going on for two years.
During that time, there has been “no talk of merger, and not much talk of full
communion,” Hastey says.  
        The immediate goal of the twoyear dialogue, approved by General Synod
22, is to produce a report to GS23 and to the annual meeting of the Alliance
that will suggest areas of collaboration between the Alliance and the United
Church.  In 10 years, Hastey hopes the two communions will have found ways for
local churches and the larger church to cooperate in mission and to mutually
support one another.
        Hastey, addressing the full Synod following its overwhelming
endorsement
of the dialogue, said that “the Spirit is ever moving the whole church of Jesus
Christ. God is uniting people.”