AWAB Home Page          Associational Issues          Voice of the Turtle Online          InSpiriter Online The Association of Welcoming & Affirming Baptists Associational A Monthly eNewsletter from the Interim Director Issue 3    ~   September 2004
Welcome to Associational the e-newsletter of the Association of Welcoming & Affirming Baptists INSIDE From the Interim Director News: UPDATE: ABC Ministers Council Senate Mid-America Region Denies Appeal of Gay Clergy West Virginia Baptists Call for Ouster of W&A Churches Calendar New Mailing Address Contributions And Now for Something Completely Different Dear Brothers and Sisters: I greet you with the whole Peace of Christ in a time of division and confusion.  You'll find in this e-letter an update on actions of the American Baptist Ministers Council Senate and news of West Virginia Baptists who are calling for the complete ouster of welcoming and affirming churches from the ABC family.  My preaching professor in seminary, Dr. J. Alfred Smith Sr., said you've got to have some bad news before the good news.  Clearly, bad news surrounds us.  But the good news is out there, too.  It cannot help but get out. If you listen, you'll hear a chorus of voices declaring the signs of this movement.  The Association is discerning its way amid international debate on the definition of marriage, amid denominational tremors all along the mainline, amid great introspection by individuals and churches asking "Who are we?" and "What do we want to give our lives to?" I suspect that every age esteems its time as a moment of historic importance.  Perhaps we are simply repeating patterns of upheaval and renewal.  Still, I believe we can rightly call this time unique and momentous; after all, it is our time and we are feeling the Reality of movement. Diane Hooge, pastor of Judson Memorial Baptist Church in Minneapolis, represented the Association in August at an ecumenical meeting of welcoming programs.  The conversation revealed something of this historic moment.  Leaders shared reflections on the state of their organizations and their denominations.  There were many common themes.  One participant offered an intriguing summary: The early movement was full of martyrs and defining oneself as on the outside.  What happens when the paradigm shifts to being happy queer people rather than wounded outsiders?  Can the movement be transformed into something different? The shift is underway to move from Œcircling the wounds¹ to wholeness." Some in the Association are asking if this is the moment to shake the dust from our sandals and find more life-giving relationships.  Others are calling for deeper engagement with those who oppose us.  Things are shifting, moving, mixed up.  Discernment is not easy in a muddy time.  There's bad news in the moment but good news as well.  "We can't be creative if we refuse to be confused," says Margaret Wheatley. So let us be confused, and let us be creative -- together.  May we find in this Association an abundance of grace for our time.   Peace, Daniel Pryfogle Interim Director Association of Welcoming & Affirming Baptists 919-460-7069 daniel@wabaptists.org http://www.wabaptists.org News UPDATE: ABC Ministers Council Senate The American Baptist Ministers Council Senate, meeting August 20-24 in Green Lake, Wis., received a resolution to bar from the senate clergy who do not "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 senate will vote on the resolution next August.  In preparation for the vote, the senate agreed to pursue a "Jerusalem Council" process to discern a denominational direction on the issue of homosexuality. Reports of the senate meeting are available online.  A summary and several related documents are posted on the Ministers Council web site at: http://www.ministerscouncil.org/2004%20Post%20Senate.htm An article by reporter Bob Allen of EthicsDaily.com titled "Seating of Lesbian Pastor on Ministers Council Challenged" is posted at: http://www.ethicsdaily.com/article_detail.cfm?AID=4652 Mid-America Region Denies Appeals of Gay Clergy The Regional Policy Board of the Mid American Baptist Churches (Iowa and Minnesota) voted August 27 to deny the requests of University Baptist Church and Judson Memorial Baptist Church to recognize the ordinations of Lynn Welton and Ross Aalgaard. Lynn and Ross were approved by their area association, which historically has examined candidates for ordination.  But upon learning that Lynn and Ross are gay, the region put the brakes on regional endorsement pending a task force study of the issue of ordaining homosexuals. Doug Donley, pastor of University Baptist, has posted some reflections on the AWAB Discernment listserv.  To read more, join the listserv at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/awabdiscernment/ West Virginia Baptists Call for Ouster of W&A Churches A new group identifying itself as West Virginia Baptists for Biblical Truth is calling on churches in its state to withhold contributions to the denomination until welcoming and affirming churches are completely removed from American Baptist life.   The group says it will encourage the West Virginia Baptist Convention to sever ties with ABC/USA if the W&A churches are not disfellowshipped by June 1, 2005. Read more at: http://www.abeonline.org/Happening/news.asp Calendar * Alliance of Baptists Mini-Convocation, Sept. 18, 2004, First Baptist Church, Worcester, MA.  Peggy Campolo, a former member of the Association council, will speak.  To learn more, go to: http://www.allianceofbaptists.org * A Gathering of Ministers Serving Youth and Children, Sept. 23-25, 2004, at Camp Thunderbird, outside Charlotte, NC.  Sponsored by The Alliance of Baptists, this gathering will be an exploration of faith formation with youth and children.  To learn more, go to: http://www.allianceofbaptists.org/calendar.htm * AWAB Open Circle LGBT Gathering - October 22-23, 2004, at University Baptist Church in Austin, Texas. The regional gathering of folks from W&A churches and beyond is a wonderful opportunity for LGBT Baptists, family and friends to join together for workshops, fellowship and worship.  For more information, check out the Open Circle web site at: http://www.ubcaustin.org/opencircle/glb_retreat04_main.htm * W&A Baptist churches from the U.S. and Canada will meet October 29 in Toronto, Ontario, for conversation about possibilities for greater collaboration.  The conversation will be held in tandem with the fall meeting of the Gathering of Baptists of Ontario and Quebec, October 30, at Yorkminster Park Baptist Church, Toronto, Ontario.  Dr. Joseph Jeter of Brite Divinity School will speak.  To learn more, go to: http://www.gatheringbaptists.ca To RSVP for the October 29 conversation, send e-mail to: daniel@wabaptists.org 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 Contributions If your church has not yet made its 2004 contribution to the Association, please mail it in soon.  If you are looking for a way to say "Yes!" to welcome and affirmation, consider making an individual gift.  Your contributions support such efforts as this online communication.  The Association is grateful for every gift, no matter the size. And Now for Something Completely Different: Good News Gay seminarian finds church home that welcomes him and all his gifts. Gay counselor helps straight couple resolve marital crisis. Gay youth minister disciples young people through ancient church traditions. Welcoming & affirming congregation is discipled by Cuban Baptists. Straight ally risks position to speak truth to power. Friends dream of planting welcoming churches. Fellowship abounds. The Good Work is underway.   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. AWAB Home Page     Back Associational Issues Voice of the Turtle Online     InSpiriter Online