wfn.org | ABCUSA: IN-KY Petition, Mid-American Resolution Receive First

["CHANDLER, David" <David.Chandler@abc-usa.org>]

Readings

American Baptist News Service (Denver, Colo. 6/29/05)---General Board
members here yesterday received for first reading several documents
addressing the American Baptist response to the practice of
homosexuality and a concern for the health of the denominational family.

A petition-based proposal to amend the ABCUSA Standing Rules was
generated by the American Baptist Churches of Indiana and Kentucky and
circulated to other regions. With letters of support from 523 churches,
the proposal met the ABCUSA bylaws criteria for presentation to the
General Board (which mandates a petition signature by a minimum of 200
cooperating churches).

The petition cites "an inconsistent and confusing message to the world
about what American Baptists profess to believe and what is actually
practiced" in light of the 1992 Resolution on Homosexuality that states,
"We believe that the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with
Christian teaching."

Several components of the petition addressing regional dismissal and
membership of churches will be rewritten to provide needed specificity.
Out of the petition, coming to the Board in November for second reading
will be the proposal "to amend the document entitled 'We Are American
Baptists' by adding the following statement to the section 'A Biblical
People:' 'Who submit to the teaching of Scripture that God's design for
sexual intimacy places it within the context of marriage between one man
and one woman, and acknowledge that the practice of homosexuality is
incompatible with Biblical teaching.'"

"A Resolution of Concern for the Family and Our American Baptist Family
of Churches," brought by Mid-American Baptist Churches, also was
received for first reading. It calls for respectful engagement around
issues that encircle denominational life.

Both the Indiana-Kentucky proposal and the Mid-American resolution will
receive second readings at the General Board's November 2005 meeting.

The General Board also received messages of concern from the region
board of the ABC of Ohio, which supports the Indiana-Kentucky action;
from the region board of the ABC of Michigan, which, among other
concerns, calls for "the establishment of a task force to (a) examine
the nature of our present cultures and the impact of postmodernism and
(b) assess implications for potential organizational change for the
ABCUSA"; and from West Virginia Baptists for Biblical Truth, who state,
"God's word calls us to be one in doctrine as well as in Spirit."

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

05ABN67