Wednesday, July 06, 2005

More Big-Tent Church

Head over to Blue Mass. Group for details on his refreshing discovery. The moderate (not Southern) American Baptist Churches just received the charge to deal with gays rather than pushing them away and damning them.

At their biennial meeting last week, the 1.5 million member group heard their General Secretary The Rev. Dr. A. Roy Medley tell them that using selected scripture to separate from others produced small souls in efforts to be comfortable (I read cowardly).

His speech is long, but well focused, both rational and loving. He does not approve of homosexuality, but neither is he afraid. As he charged the group, "The issue of homosexuality has brought us as a denomination to a cross-road in our life together. One road will lead to separation. The other path will lead us to shared ministry and mission in all the theological and ethnic richness that has come to make us the unique denomination we are. What will you choose? Which road will you take?"

For those into exegesis or even sword drills, he cites a lot of scripture. However, he chooses those that challenge Christians to live the good works, not to claim superiority over others. It's a great read.

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