wfn.org | ABCUSA: Ministers Council Bylaw Amendment Defeated; Senate

["SCHRAMM, Richard" <Rich.Schramm@abc-usa.org>]

Affirms Resolution

American Baptist News Service (Valley Forge, Pa. 8/25/05)--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."

K/2005ABNS/05ABN91

American Baptist News Service: Office of Communication, American Baptist
Churches USA, P.O. Box 851, Valley Forge, PA 19482-0851; (800)ABC-3USA
x2077 / (610)768-2077; fax: (610)768-2320; www.abc-usa.org;
richard.schramm@abc-usa.org