What (Some) Welcoming & Affirming Baptists Believe

Background information. The Association of Welcoming & Affirming Baptists grew out of a meeting of professional church leaders which was held at the American Baptist Churches Biennial meeting in Charleston, West Virginia, in June of 1991. Many congregations which welcome and affirm persons of all sexual orientations were represented at this gathering. Anxious to make it known that not all Baptists were in agreement with the Statement of Concern on Homosexuality proposed (and later passed) in Charleston, those in attendance at that meeting wanted a way for their congregations to go on record as welcoming gay and lesbian persons. It was felt that a network of such churches should be formed, and it was decided to organize using the historic Baptist associational model. Since that meeting, over 75 churches and many organizations and individual clergy and lay church leaders have joined the AWAB. Many of our member churches have historically been affirming but have joined together with other Welcoming & Affirming Baptist churches in order to respond more fully to the call of Christ by accomplishing together what we cannot do alone.

Many have asked what we believe, or what it is that we affirm. In keeping with historic Baptist principles, AWAB does not have a creed or statement of faith which must be affirmed by our membership. Rather, each member congregation submits its own statement of welcome and affirmation. This statement may be part of the church's bylaws or mission statement, a resolution, or a statement drafted by a task group. Each church decides on the content and the process by which the statement is prepared and affirmed by the church.

We feel that this is the best process for joining into association with one another, but it does make it difficult for me to answer questions about what "we" believe. While no Baptist can speak for another, here we will try to reflect on our affirming position honestly and in such a way that my statements do not misrepresent the attitudes and understandings of most members of the Association.

The Purposes of the Association. The AWAB bylaws (passed at our biennial meeting in June, 1995) outline nine reasons for our Association in a statement of purpose. Our first and primary purpose is "to seek to remain faithful to the Gospel of Jesus Christ as witnessed within scripture, the church, and personal experience, and to maintain through the work of the Association a public witness to God's reconciling presence in our lives." Our sense of mission flows from this primary purpose—from our understanding of what our members feel it means to be faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Nothing in Baptist polity requires individual churches to abide by the majority opinion, whether expressed regionally or nationally, on matters of mission, theological understanding, or biblical interpretation. In fact, many W&A congregations feel a deep sense of calling to be a prophetic voice for justice, calling the church to accountability and action wherever there is exclusion and oppression of any of God's children.

Welcoming & Affirming churches rely on the Bible as the all-sufficient rule for faith and practice. There are a variety of understandings regarding biblical scripture among Baptists and within Baptist churches. W&A Baptists hav not rejected the Bible, but rather study and rely on scripture to inform our understandings of hospitality, mission, evangelism, and responsible sexual ethics.

We Welcome and Affirm People. When W&A Baptists say that we welcome and affirm persons who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (lgbt) in our churches, we are welcoming people. We welcome our lgbt sisters and brothers in our pews, we advocate for them when they are victims of discrimination or violence, and we include them in positions of church leadership. We are not, however, welcoming and affirming a particular "lifestyle." This bears explanation.

In order to understand one another, we must understand one another's language. There are several terms which are frequently used and often misunderstood in the current debate over homosexuality and the church. Following are some of the terms and concepts discussed by Welcoming & Affirming Baptists about which many people are unclear.

Sexual Orientation: First, there is a distinction between sexual orientation and sexual behavior. W&A Baptists do not affirm all homosexual sexual behavior any more than we would affirm all heterosexual sexual behavior. We do, however, believe that homosexual sexuality when it is lived out in the context of a mutually responsible, monogamous, exclusive, committed relationship can be life-giving, blessed by God, and is not by its very nature outside of the realm of a faithful Christian life. Most W&A Baptists believe that God has created humankind with a variety of sexual orientations and that each individual has the potential to act responsibly within their given sexual orientation. Most of us believe that a person does not have a choice in one's sexual orientation; we feel that it is not a preference but rather something with which one is born—as intrinsic as eye color or left-handedness. Scientific evidence reinforces this understanding that sexual orientation is most likely biologically determined.

Bisexual: A person who is "bisexual" is someone who feels physical attraction to members of either sex (while a homosexual is attracted to persons of the same sex and a heterosexual to members of the opposite sex). Since a bisexual woman could be attracted to both men and women, she might choose to be in relationship with another woman, or she might choose to be in relationship with a man.

There has been much confusion about the affirmation of bisexual persons by the AWAB. Some have argued that an affirmation of a bisexual would indicate a belief that it is perfectly OK for someone to act sexually with more than one partner (i.e. with a male and also with a female during the same time period). Thus they conclude that W&A Baptists must therefore be advocating promiscuity. This is incorrect. We do not affirm irresponsible sexual behavior. We do affirm the person. While we believe that some individuals are attracted to both men and women, we would have the same expectations for a bisexual individual as we would for a heterosexual individual—an expectation to act sexually within a mutually responsible, monogamous, exclusive, committed relationship, for example.

Transgender: For many people there is much mystery around the subject of transgender. "Transgender" is an umbrella term for various issues around gender identity. Transgender can be described as being born physically one sex but where the brain is wired emotionally and physiologically to be the opposite gender. Transgender can also be described as being trapped in the body of the wrong gender. There are various other categories that are sometimes grouped under the term transgender.

"Transsexuals" are transgender persons who undergo steps through hormone treatment or surgery to modify the physical characteristics and/or sex assignment they were born with. This can be one of the most difficult steps for someone who knows a transgender person. (For example, to go from having a son to a daughter can be a  traumatic experience for parents.) Gender reassignment is not taken lightly by the individual who feels called to correct what some regard to be a physical mistake of birth. A transgender person who takes transsexual steps sees the process as making his/herself whole. A transsexual person may be either homosexual, heterosexual, or bisexual. (For example, a person who is born with male genitals but believes herself to be female in gender, has surgery to become female, and enters into a relationship with a male is exhibiting heterosexual sexual behavior, as is her sexual partner.)

"Cross-dressers" are persons who enjoy dressing in clothing usually worn by the opposite sex (the term "transvestite" is also sometimes used). Just like the rest of the population, cross-dressers may be either heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual in sexual orientation. (For example, a male cross-dresser who enjoys wearing women's clothing and only has sexual relations with his wife is probably heterosexual; indeed the vast majority of male cross-dressers are heterosexual.)

"Intersex" persons are grouped into the transgender category. Intersex persons are born with a physical abnormality that results in individuals who are born with additional chromosomes and/or have genitals of both sexes. In the past children have routinely been medically assigned a physical sex at birth or shortly thereafter. The current trend is to wait until an intersex child exhibits tendencies toward one gender or the other before such a reassignment decision is made.

As you can see, transgender is a very complicated subject and one around which there is much to study and learn. Some congregations that have moved through the process of becoming welcoming and affirming have additional hurtles to cross with regard to understanding transgender persons. However, we expect that transgender persons would be welcomed and affirmed in W&A congregations.

Lifestyle. This is a term which is often used by those outside the gay community to describe lesbian and gay sexuality, but one which we feel has little meaning in that context. There is no such thing as a "homosexual lifestyle" any more than there is a "heterosexual lifestyle." I am a lesbian pastor living in a monogamous relationship with my life-partner. My lifestyle involves such activities as serving my church, cleaning the house (occasionally, anyway), taking the cats to the vet, and making choices about how I treat others, spend my income, and care for the environment. If you are a married heterosexual, your lifestyle probably has much more in common with my lifestyle than it does with the lifestyle of some other heterosexuals (a wealthy executive, a single mom raising her children on welfare in the inner city, a drug addict, or the pope, to name a few examples.)

Ethical Standards. When W&A Baptists consider biblical sexual ethics, we have the same standards for those who are attracted to the same sex that we do for those who are attracted to the opposite sex. We do not require celibacy as a condition of faithfulness. We do not require those who are lesbian, gay, or bisexual to become "straight" if they choose to enter a sexual relationship*, but we do encourage them to be ethical in that relationship. Although we might not be able to reach consensus among our members on some of the specifics of ethical sexual behavior, most would expect sexual expression to be lived out in the context of a committed, monogamous relationship. I think we would all agree among W&A congregations that we do not have a double standard of sexual ethics that holds one set of expectations for heterosexual members and another set of expectations for our lgbt members.

Our W&A congregations affirm persons of different sexual orientations and gender identities and encourage the responsible sexual behavior of all of our members. Where we might differ with those who disagree with us is that we believe that God created humankind with a variety of sexualities and that it is possible to engage in responsible sexual behavior with a person of the same sex. We do not make negative assumptions about one's sexual ethics when we learn that an individual is gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender.

Since spouses, partners, relationships, and significant life events of lgbt members are not always recognized and celebrated, they can feel like second-class citizens in most churches. Therefore, W&A congregations seek to recognize, nurture, and celebrate the God-given sexuality and the committed relationships of the lgbt members of our families of faith. We accept them as children of God and reach out to them with the redeeming and reconciling love of Jesus Christ. We further encourage our congregations and our denomination to participate in dialogue on issues of gender and sexuality and to develop and encourage a responsible sexual ethic for persons who are heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual. We believe that God meets us all wherever we are, regardless of our sexual or gender dentity, and calls us each to live out our life in accordance with the teachings and example of Christ.

Same-Sex Marriage: We recognize that churches and individuals hold many positions regarding same-sex marriage, but AWAB fully believes same-sex couples should be allowed to marry. The societal debate going on in the United States is about civil marriage, which is a contract between two people. The civil contract of marriage conveys legal rights related to property ownership, hospital visitation and survivorship; among others. The legal debate about marriage has no legal enforcement on churches, synagogues or mosques. But we believe that bodies of faith should celebrate the commitment of same-couples in marriage, just as they do heterosexual couples.

*The statement about our organization which is most often misinterpreted and quoted out of context is a sentence which is a part of my explanation of how to write an affirming statement. It states that a basic understanding of "affirmation" means that W&A members "affirm persons of all sexual orientations and gender identity without the expectation that one be heterosexual or celibate in order to be a faithful Christian."

This article is adapted from a memo previously sent to executive ministers in response to several questions regarding W&A "beliefs," and was printed in The InSpiriter, spring 1999 (vol.3 no.4).