INSIDE
From the Interim Director
Dear Brothers and
Sisters in Christ:
I got scolded at church on Sunday. A member expressed her disappointment
that I declined to speak on behalf of the American Baptist Churches this
Lenten season as our congregation takes up an offering. I have spoken
before, but this year could not muster the passion to pitch a system that
seems so sick. Preserving or fixing the institution is not where my energy
lies.
My sister, however, was troubled by that decision. I suspect she viewed it
as somewhat unfaithful. And she was bothered by what my decision bodes for
the denomination. She does not believe this is the time to "give up."
So many of us hang between that place of not wanting to "give up the fight"
and being weary of the battle. Many of us do not want to "leave" the
denomination to the conservatives who would remake it; but at the same time,
we are drawn to new possibilities for associational life and ministry, and
we see signs of a growing welcoming movement that crosses denominational,
regional, ethnic and national lines.
I believe we know deeply that there are other ways to picture relationship
in the ABC rather than the war metaphor that has marked our life for more
than a decade. Yet the system, our culture, our language, our leaders, even
our theologies conspire to keep us locked in battle. A major skirmish is
likely at the General Board meeting this June, as conservative leaders push
for the removal of welcoming churches from the denomination. However,
rather than being resolved in Denver, itıs likely this war will drag on.
What would giving up the battle mean? We struggle to fathom how giving up
could be faithful because it feels like failure. We struggle to see how
withdrawal could be prophetic witness because most of our stories of heroic
faith are about engagement, sticking with it, hanging in there.
Yet giving up may be the calling for a countercultural community or movement
such as the Association, when giving up means letting go of the fever to
control, giving up our strategies and our tactics to beat the enemy,
relinquishing the ways we maneuver and manipulate to hold on to power, to
possess position, property or privilege - indeed, even to do good.
Giving up is to confess our complicity in a system that hems us in with its
vapid call to "unity" while it abuses some members, treating lgbt folk as
less than others. Giving up is to confess our part in a system that is
predicated on conflict, a system that counts on victors and victims.
Our theologians of peace offer the possibility of giving up. John Howard
Yoder notes that Exodus is a withdrawal rather than a strategic engagement
with the enemy, a miracle rather than a program of liberation. The people
of God are a countercultural community who resist giving themselves over to
- and leaving others to - the devices of the powers that be, even if the
battle promises a better end. Stanley Hauerwas speaks of being a people
"living out of control," resisting the violent ways the system would have us
pursue. We are not a countercultural people because we have a different end
vision but because we covenant to live toward and into that vision in a
different way, the way of peace and wholeness.
Giving up is to repent, to turn from this manner of engagement with each
other. It is to declare: We choose to no longer relate this way. In
repenting, in our turning, we may yet discover a new way to be in
relationship.
There is a false notion that to give up is to abandon hope and to abandon
others. Our turning, however, could be invitational. Indeed, to resist
warring ways has always been evangelical.
Listen, friends: I can hear the good news shared with others in our
leave-taking. Listen:
If you too are weary and heavy laden; if you too feel called to leave aside
the metaphors which circumscribe our being with each other as a
battleground; if you too believe there is a new country, where by Godıs
grace we can learn to live in love, then let us walk there together.
Peace,
Daniel Pryfogle
Interim Director
Association of Welcoming & Affirming Baptists
daniel@wabaptists.org
Online Discussion
To join an online
discussion about the state of the American Baptist Churches and the witness
of welcoming and affirming Baptists, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/awabdiscernment/
News
Rochester Summit
to Convene Progressive Baptists
More than 130 people from across the U.S. are expected to travel to
Rochester, N.Y., this week for the February 18-19 summit of American Baptist
leaders to discuss a collaborative response to anti-gay actions in the
denomination.
Representatives of the Association, Baptist Peace Fellowship of North
America, Hispanic Caucus, the Coalition for Baptist Principles,
African-American Caucus, and the Roger Williams Fellowship will participate.
To learn more, contact the Rev. Alan Newton, executive minister of the
American Baptist Churches of the Rochester/Genesee Region, at 585-436-9233
or
anewton@localnet.com.
LGBT Retreat in the Rockies
Slated:
Registration Online and by Downloaded Form
LGBT folk and straight allies will enjoy four days of retreat, reflection
and fellowship in the Rocky Mountains July 4-7 following the American
Baptist Biennial in Denver.
The retreat will be held on the campus of the University of Colorado at
Boulder, just north of Denver. The focus of the retreat is on the spiritual
needs of individuals rather than the generally congregational-focused themes
of larger Association gatherings.
This year's retreat leader is the Rev. Rick Mixon, interim pastor of First
Baptist Church of Granville, Ohio, and a longtime leader in the welcoming
movement.
Information and registration materials are available online. The early
registration deadline is April 30. Go to:
http://www.wabaptists.org/retreat.htm
Nominations
Open for Mixon Christian Service Award
The Association presents the Randle R. Mixon Award for Christian Service
every two years to an individual whose work has helped to increase the
inclusion and affirmation of sexual minorities within Baptist bodies and has
served to advance the cause of justice by educating congregations,
organizations and individuals about sexual minority and gender identity
issues.
Nominations for the award will be received by the AWAB Council through March
15. The award will be presented during AWAB events at the Biennial
convention of the American Baptist Churches/USA, July 1-3, in Denver.
For more information, go to:
http://www.wabaptists.org/csaward.htm
Nominations Sought for AWAB
Council
The AWAB Council's nominating committee seeks nominations for leaders, lay
or clergy, interested in serving on the governing board for the Association.
Several seats will be voted upon by the membership at the AWAB Biennial
Meeting July 1 in Denver.
To submit your name or someone else's, please e-mail council member Kathy
Stayton at:
Kbstay@aol.com
Calendar
The 2005
Alliance of Baptists Convocation will be held April 1-3, 2005, at Furman
University, Greenville, S.C. A Sabbath retreat for pastors precedes the
convocation on April 1. And a retreat for youth and children's ministers
follows the convocation, April 3-5, in Brevard, N.C. To learn more, go to:
http://www.allianceofbaptists.org
The American Baptist Biennial will be held July 1-3, 2005,
in Denver. AWAB's Retreat in the Rockies will follow July 4-7 in Boulder.
(See above.) The Association will hold its biennial business meeting July
1 and special worship service July 2. Go to
http://www.wabaptists.org for more
details.
The 20th Annual Gathering of the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America
is slated for August 1-6, 2005, at Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon.
Speakers include Marcus Borg, Doris Garcia-Mayol, Cam Watts, and Paul Dekar,
with music by Michael Stern. To learn more, go to:
http://www.bpfna.org
New Membership Forms Online
Individuals and
congregations can now access membership applications for the Association
online. Those seeking individual membership can complete the entire process
online.
A special thank-you to AWAB's online editor, Chris Boisvert, for making the
web site such a helpful resource and important ministry. For membership
information and applications, go to:
http://www.wabaptists.org/membership.htm
Contributions
There is a
strange joy in giving when you are "lovers in a dangerous time," as Bruce
Cockburn puts it. It may sound foolish or like a fairy tale, but the
Creator who welcomes us and woos us is on the move. Things are shifting even
as you scroll through this e-mail. So grab someone's hand, smile at your
neighbor, and catch a ride. And while you're rolling, pull out that
checkbook and compose a crazy kind of gift to the Association today.
If you're in a rush, the Association now offers a secure online giving
option at:
http://www.wabaptists.org/donations.htm
New Mailing Address
Please note that the Association has a new mailing address:
The Association of Welcoming & Affirming Baptists
P.O. Box 1423
Cary, North Carolina 27512
Prayer Requests
Please remember
Immanuel Baptist Church in Portland, Maine, facing a potential
disfellowshipping from its association because of its welcome. Keep the
churches of this association in your prayers as well. And give thanks for
friendly congregations in Portland who stand with Immanuel.
Please pray for all those who will meet in Rochester Feb. 18-19, for
traveling mercies, grace and wisdom.
Associational is a periodic e-newsletter of
the Association of Welcoming & Affirming Baptists, a network of 50 churches
and hundreds of individuals who have joined together to advocate for the
full inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons within
Baptist communities of faith. Please forward this e-newsletter to
interested friends. To subscribe, send an e-mail to
e-subscribe@wabaptists.org
with SUBSCRIBE in the subject line. To be removed from this list, send an
e-mail to
e-unsubscribe@wabaptists.org
with REMOVE in the subject line. To read back issues of Associational, go
to: http://wabaptists.org/associational.htm.
To learn more about the Association, go to:
http://www.wabaptists.org.
The Peace of Christ be with you. |
