wfn.org | Baptists say yes to death penalty, no to women pastors

[PCUSA NEWS <PCUSA.NEWS@ecunet.org>]

Note #5939 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

16-June-2000
00236

	Baptists say yes to death penalty, no to women pastors

	Fundamentalists cement their control over 16-million member church

	by Adelle M. Banks
	Religion News Service

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Southern Baptists overwhelmingly passed a revised statement
of faith June 14 opposing women pastors and homosexuality and adopted a
groundbreaking resolution supporting capital punishment.
    
	More than two dozen protesters were arrested outside the Orange County
Convention Center as Baptists entered a discussion lasting for more than an
hour about the Baptist Faith and Message, the core statement of Baptist
belief.  But the topics most on the outside protesters' minds -- gays and
women -- never surfaced during the debate.

	Theological concerns about such issues as the pre-eminence of Jesus and the
place of the Bible prompted proposed amendments from the floor, but all were
defeated before the statement was passed.
    
	The capital punishment resolution says the convention's delegates, known as
messengers, "support the fair and equitable use of capital punishment by
civil magistrates as a legitimate form of punishment for those guilty of
murder or treasonous acts that result in death."
    
	It cites biblical references forbidding "taking of innocent human life" and
affirming the death penalty as appropriate for capital crimes.

	"We are saying that they may, not that they must," said Hayes Wicker,
chairman of the resolutions committee, of civil courts.  He said Southern
Baptists did not wish to remain silent in the midst of the current debate,
in which a number of other religious bodies have called for moratoriums and
studies on capital punishment.
    
	Wicker, a Naples, Fla., pastor, said the resolution's language notes 
capital punishment should be used only when there is "clear and overwhelming
evidence" of guilt and should not be based on race or class of the guilty
person.  It is the first time the 15.9 million-member denomination has
spoken on capital punishment.
    
	Members of the study committee on the Baptist Faith and Message, which was
first adopted in 1925 and revised in 1963, said its new language upholds
Baptist heritage while clarifying biblical truths for a "postmodern
culture."  In 1998, a controversial article on the family was added stating,
in part, that "a wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant
leadership of her husband."
    
	The new statements opposing homosexuality and women pastors drew criticism
as soon as the proposed report was released last month.

	Homosexuality, along with racism, adultery and pornography, was cited as a
social issue Christians should oppose.
    
	The additional language on women pastors reads: "While both men and women
are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men
as qualified by Scripture."
    
	Dozens of protesters from Soulforce, an independent organization supporting
greater inclusion of gays and lesbians in all churches, protested outside
the convention center, carrying signs that read "Father Forgive Them."
    
	"I don't understand how we can't all live and do as Jesus wants us to do
and love one another," said Gary Nixon, co-founder of Soulforce, who said
his partner and organization co-founder Mel White was among those arrested.
    
	Others distributed information to messengers about "ex-gay" ministries.
    
	"It was Southern Baptists' uncompromising commitment to the authority of
the Bible on this issue that provided me the determination to dare and trust
God for freedom," said Tim Wilkins, executive director of Cross Ministry, a
Raleigh, N.C.-based affiliate of the "ex-gay" ministry Exodus International.
    
	James Merritt, the Snellville, Ga., pastor whose one-year term as president
of the denomination started at the close of the meeting Wednesday, said he
was personally comfortable with the language in the Baptist Faith and
Message.
    
	"Yes, we do stand against homosexuality," Merritt told reporters after his
election Tuesday.
	"We believe that Scripture is absolutely plain. There's not one shred of
evidence in the Bible that God ever approved of homosexuality in any shape,
form or fashion.  At the same time, what we're really for is the family. 
And we're really for the homosexual having a productive lifestyle that
honors the Lord."
    
	Bailey Smith, an Atlanta evangelist and former Southern Baptist Convention
president, weighed in with stronger language in the annual convention
message.
    
	"If you believe it is natural and acceptable for two men to marry each
other and two women to marry each other, you are not a liberal. You are a
nutball," he said, garnering applause.
    
	Deb Nelson, a 33-year-old lesbian who traveled across the state from Cape
Canaveral with her partner, stood outside the convention center to oppose
the faith statement's stance against women pastors and homosexuality.
    
	"No one should be oppressed or held back," said Nelson, holding an "I Am a
Proud Lesbian" sign.
    
	Merritt, who attended seminary with women, said the issue for pastors is
calling, not competency.
    
	"The calling of God to the ministry, and to the senior pastorate
particularly, is for the male only," he said.
    
	Rather than focusing on the social issues regarding women's and gay rights,
Baptists entered a lengthy discussion that centered on a one-sentence change
in the faith statement's article on "The Scriptures."  Messengers approved
the addition of the sentence "All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is
Himself the focus of divine revelation" and deleted a sentence reading, "The
criterion by which the Bible is to be interpreted is Jesus Christ."
    
	"We are indeed people of the book, but we also are people who bow only
before Jesus Christ our savior," argued Charles Wade, executive director of
the Baptist General Convention of Texas, in an unsuccessful attempt to
reconsider the language.
    
	Anthony Sizemore, from First Baptist Church of Floydada, Texas, said he
believed "the Bible is God's word.  The Bible is still just a book. 
Christians are supposed to have a relationship with Jesus Christ, not a
book.  Jesus Christ redeems, not a book.  Today we must be careful not to
elevate the written word above the one to whom it points."
    
	In response, study committee member and Southern Baptist Theological
Seminary President Al Mohler said: "Ladies and gentleman, this is what it
all comes down to: The Bible is not merely a record; it is the revelation of
God."
    
	Mohler's remarks were greeted with applause, and some messengers stood to
express their agreement.
    
	Before the debate began, study committee chairman and former Southern
Baptist President Adrian Rogers announced the committee had unanimously
approved an amendment to the statement's preamble affirming the historic
Baptist principles of "soul competency" and the "priesthood of the
believers," which relate to a Baptist's ability to directly communicate with
God and be the judge of his or her own theology.

_______________________________________________
pcusaNews mailing list
pcusaNews@pcusa.org

To unsubscribe, go to this web address:
http://pcusa01.pcusa.org/mailman/listinfo/pcusanews