news-record.com

GREENSBORO — Top leadership of the state's largest religious group, the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, is recommending disassociating with one of its largest churches.


For some Southern Baptists, if a church knowingly acts to "affirm, approve, endorse, promote, support or bless homosexual behavior," that's a bad thing. Is that fair? Is it right? Join the discussion at the Debatables blog.


Myers Park Baptist , a 2,000-member Charlotte church with a 65-year history with the convention, is the first to face expulsion under a recently enacted policy against gay-friendly churches.


Last year, convention delegates, called messengers, voted overwhelmingly on the definition of a church that is "in friendly cooperation with the convention and sympathetic to its purposes and work" with the largely conservative group. Churches must provide financial support and not affirm homosexuality.


The association, with more than 1.2 million members, is one of the largest voluntary associations of Baptist churches in the country.


"It says ... 'we have some convictions that we won't negotiate,' " Baptist historian Bill Leonard, dean of divinity at Wake Forest University, said regarding the convention's stance.


Baptists, like other denominations, have a right to set standards for whom to cooperate with and work with, said Milton Hollifield , the group's executive director-treasurer.


"I think other people could understand that religious groups make decisions based upon their beliefs in Scripture ... and if you really think about it, that's the difference in denominations," he said.


This convention is also being called historic for other reasons; its colleges, retirement homes and even women's missions are severing traditional ties with the Baptist group largely over power struggles.


Messengers will vote on what kind of relationships, focusing largely on money, the convention ought to have with those groups, which want to elect their own trustees and have more autonomy.


Regarding Myers Park Baptist , the convention's executive board agreed that the church knowingly acted to "affirm, approve, endorse, promote, support or bless homosexual behavior." The board will ask its messengers to no longer associate with them as a convention this morning .


Church pastor Stephen Shoemaker , along with a group of deacons, met with top leaders Monday. The church will be able to appeal the decision.


"Our appeal was that our unity be based in Jesus Christ and his call to discipleship, that our unity be based in freedom of conscience and freedom to interpret Scripture," Shoemaker said, "... and that our unity not be based in particular matters of biblical interpretation, whether it be homosexuality, speaking in tongues ... or the death penalty."


At least half a dozen churches simply withdrew from the association after the 2006 vote — with only some giving that as the reason.


But Myers Park — whose Web site includes a welcome to "gay and lesbian persons who wish to follow Christ with us here" — is the first congregation to face unwanted expulsion.


"We didn't feel we had another choice of conscience," Shoemaker said. "We could have chosen just to be a silent, nonparticipating part of them for the rest of our life as a congregation, but we felt that ours was an important witness to make."


Hollifield said he is saddened anytime "one of our churches make a decision that they no longer want to be affiliated with this convention" but wondered about the church's motives.


"I do not think they would anticipate that they would change the voice of this convention," Hollifield said. "... but they may want to keep this particular matter in the news."

Contact Nancy H. McLaughlin at 373-7049 or nmclaughlin@news-record.com