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ARTICLES
Statement to
ABC/Ohio Board
The
following is a statement made by Rev. Steve Hammond
when the ABC/Ohio Regional Board met to vote to support
the Indiana/Kentucky resolution. The board voted to
support the resolution 22 in favor, 2 opposed with three
abstentions.
ABC/Ohio Regional Board MeetingMay 12, 2005 Rev. Steve
Hammond, Co-Pastor, Peace Community Church, Oberlin,
Ohio
I take the proposal to support the Indiana/Kentucky
resolution a bit personally. Our church is currently in
the process of being removed from ABC/Ohio. If this
resolution were in effect now, once we are removed from
the Region we would no longer have the option of
remaining an American Baptist Church.
I realize, of course, that is the point of this
resolution and the reason it is supported by many on
this Board. Itšs not enough to expunge churches like the
Peace Community Church of Oberlin from your sight, you
need us expunged from your minds, as well. But in
removing churches such as ours from this Region, and in
the future from the denomination, you do a great
disservice to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Realm of
God, and yourselves.
When our congregation made the decision to affiliate
with The Association of Welcoming and Affirming
Baptists, it came at the end of a process of rewriting
our constitution and our Guiding Principles and
Policies. It was an amazing time for us. We had meeting
after meeting where we prayed and looked to the
Scriptures and discerned who we are as a local
congregation. It took us four drafts, but by the end we
had written down on paper, as best we could, who we are.
The North Central Association and the American Baptist
Churches of Ohio ought to be celebrating that movement
of the Spirit in our lives, but instead wešve become too
hot to handle, too much empowered by the Spirit, from my
perspective, for others to know what to do with us.
Indeed, we ought to be celebrating the work of many of
our local congregations period. For it is local
congregations that are at the core of the movement we
call Baptist.
In our congregation we have Pat Robertson watchers and
Marcus Borg readers. Wešve got Ph.D.šs and folk who have
never graduated from high school. Some of us have more
than enough money, others of us would never survive
without assistance from social agencies, friends and
family, and church members. Wešve got college students,
retired folk, and unemployed people. Wešve got people
who are married, divorced, straight, gay, and single.
Some of us are just finding our way back into the body
of Christ, hoping that this wonšt be another church that
rejects us.
In other words we are not all alike. We believe
different things, we bring different church and life
experiences with us, we bring different expectations.
But we are committed to helping each other discover what
it means to be Jesus followers, and the Holy Spirit is
running amok in
our congregation.
It is my opinion that the Indiana/Kentucky Resolution is
about the fear of that kind of diversity in American
Baptist life. It is a vision of everyone thinking alike,
believing alike, acting alike, and perhaps one day
voting alike. It is a vision of a denomination turned in
on itself, where a few self-appointed pastors set the
doctrinal standards for all of us. And the thing this
vision fears even more than diversity is dissent.
Yet, we are Baptists. We grew in the soil of dissent,
believing that followers of Jesus have enough of the
Holy Spirit in them to discern how their congregations
ought to be about ministry and mission. We used to
celebrate that. It was our reason for being. But now we
have abandoned dissent for conformity. We want to
support resolutions like the Indiana/Kentucky one,
demand that speakers at all ABC/Ohio functions conform
to a set of guidelines, or remove my wife from the Quest
Committee. Silencing is not golden.
By some fluke I am the longest serving Board member in
this room. I have been on this board, uninterrupted, for
at least twenty years. I think this will be my last
meeting, assuming the disfellowshipping process with our
Association moves ahead in the coming weeks. Over those
years I have almost always voted with the minority,
sometimes a minority of one, on many major issues facing
this board. I will end my tenure most likely voting with
the minority again.
Nevertheless, I have a profound respect for many in
ABC/Ohio life past and present, including people sitting
in this room. Over the years I have had the honor of
knowing and working with wonderful Regional staff,
including Larry Swain and the current staff. ABC/Ohio
and I have traveled this road together for nearly 26
years, and now itšs time for all of us to move on to
where God is leading us. But wherever that is for me, I
will continue to live a Baptist lifestyle. I will glory
in the wonder of the ability and authority of the local
congregation to govern
itself looking to the Word of God and the Holy Spirit
rather than creeds, confessions, doctrinal statements,
statements of faith, or the requirements of those who
have assumed the role of determining who are the clean
and unclean among us.
First Same-Sex Marriage Performed
in Canadian Armed Forces
Tuesday,
June 14, 2005
Updated at
4:04 PM
EDT Canadian Press
Halifax
— The Canadian military is marking its first gay
wedding.
Two men, who do not want to be identified, exchanged
vows in a small ceremony at Canadian Forces Base
Greenwood in western Nova Scotia. It was the first time
the military has presided over a same-sex union after
introducing guidelines in 2003 dealing with the
contentious issue.
The two men, one a sergeant, the other a warrant
officer, were married last month by a United Church
minister because the base chaplain is Anglican and
couldn't officiate. But, Lt-Cmdr. David Greenwood helped
arrange the service and preached at it. He says it might
encourage other gays and lesbians in the military to
come forward and make their vows official.
A spokeswoman with National Defence confirmed it was the
first wedding for a gay couple in the military's
history. The department's guidelines say same-sex
couples must be treated like heterosexuals.
The Nova Scotia Supreme Court ruled last September that
banning same-sex marriage was unconstitutional.
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