Progressive Baptists collaborate on
revision
of sexual orientation resource
CHARLOTTE, NC - Representatives from the Baptist
Peace Fellowship of North America, the Alliance of Baptists and the Association
of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists met May 15-16 at Park Road Baptist Church in
Charlotte, NC. The meeting was the first of three in a year-long process to
develop a plan for revising and marketing "Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth",
the sexual orientation resource produced in 2000 by the Baptist Peace Fellowship
and the Alliance of Baptists, and to explore possibilities for further
collaboration between the three organizations. The work is funded by a grant
from the Arcus Foundation of Kalamazoo, MI, New York City and Cambridge, UK.
The participating organizations named three
representatives each to serve on the team. Representing the Baptist Peace
Fellowship are LeDayne McLeese Polaski (co-editor of the original edition of
"Rightly Dividing"), Johnny Almond and Doug Cruger. From the Alliance of
Baptists are Eileen Campbell-Reed, Millard Eiland (co-editor of the original
edition of "Rightly Dividing") and Rick Mixon. The Association of Welcoming and
Affirming Baptists is represented by Anita Bradshaw, Ron Green and Jim
Singletary. Daniel Pryfogle of Signal Hill brings more than 15 years of
experience in innovative leadership to his work as facilitator the team's work.
In a statement released after the initial
meeting, group members said, "The purpose that holds this work together is our
common cause of welcoming and affirming all of God's children in their multitude
of sexual orientations and gender identities to full inclusion in the
membership, leadership and rituals of our communities of faith." A guided
process of sharing stories helped the team raise significant questions about its
task and purpose and helped participants pose "provocative propostions" about
both the ways the organizations might work together and ways they might bring
resources and support to the work of welcoming and affirming Baptist brothers
and sisters. "In our stories," the statement continued, "we discovered an
incredible well of wisdom and experience, not without pain or wounds, yet filled
with grace, healing and reconciliation."
The group's first meeting resulted in a list of
various tasks to be completed. Among them are: 1) surveying current available
multi-media resources which support the purpose of welcoming and affirming
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) folks in the faith communities
represented; 2) mapping the Baptist landscape which helps describe and interpret
the groups, constituencies and audiences the organizations most hope to address;
3) providing regular communication to news outlets, organization boards and the
grantor regarding the work; and 4) circulating the proposals and questions
generated.
The team's next meeting will be September 23-24,
with another meeting to be set for January/February 2010. Members invite support
of the work of the team "in the form of your prayers for our work, your comments
to the team, and your wisdom as we continue on the path set before us."
In summarizing its work, the group said, "We are
not simply fulfilling a request of the Arcus foundation, nor merely representing
the interests of our three organizations. Rather the heart of our work is to see
the movement and invitation of God to reconcile all creation, and to extend that
welcome and affirmation to all of our sisters and brothers in the Baptist fold.
For God is at work shaping a new creation, and we are called alongside as
co-creators. We are not only charged with welcoming and affirming those who
identify themselves as LGBT, but also extending that very same welcome to all
the Baptist family."
