“On this I take my stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen.”
These are the words of Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms on April 18, 1521. On this date, Luther refused to recant his reformation views in front of Charles V and the Holy Roman Empire, placing him under imperial ban. While some scholars suggest that these words were added later on to the transcript, they still ring true for many dissenters within the Christian Church striving to hold true to their conscience. They certainly ring true for myself, as I believe they probably ring true for Ginter Park Baptist Church.
Andrew Gardner
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As a 22-year-old Virginia Baptist, I struggle with the decision made at the recent Baptist General Association of Virginia meeting to disassociate and break fellowship with Ginter Park. As a non-voting guest, but indeed a lifetime member of a Virginia Baptist church, I attended the BGAV meeting in Roanoke and was deeply saddened by what I saw.
I saw a wonderfully planned conference centering on the theme of unity, which quickly became a superficial premise, overshadowed by the ease at which the BGAV severed ties with Ginter Park. While pastor Aaron Graham gave a wonderful sermon on Tuesday afternoon, in my opinion it fell flat. No sermon on unity could have aptly spoken to a people who just voted against evaluating the possibility of unity.
I watched as numerous pastors rose to cite a 1993 resolution arguing against pastor Jim Somerville’s proposal to reevaluate the executive committee’s decision. I was 3 years old when the 1993 resolution passed. If the BGAV is unwilling to discuss this resolution, I have a hard time believing that they take 1 Timothy 4:12 seriously. Does my generation have a say in crafting a stance on homosexuality within the church?
I heard executive director John Upton praise this grand movement of young people in the BGAV, but it seemed that this movement was only worth as much as it looked like previous generations of Virginia Baptists. What happens if the future generation of Virginia Baptists looks different than this one? What happens if a leader in a collegiate ministry is gay? I know that answer. I have witnessed it. The Virginia Baptist Mission Board asks them to step down, despite being an elected, loved and cherished member of that Baptist collegiate ministries community.
On Tuesday, I watched an older generation vote against a church that deeply struggled with a difficult ordination process. Sometimes I doubt many of those who voted “no” have had a friend and homosexual member of their congregation raise the question of ordination. Sometimes I doubt they have ever had to stretch their hermeneutic and understanding of Scripture to allow the Holy Spirit to move around them.
I looked around the room and saw the very early stages of a dying denomination. It saddened me deeply. Rather than looking to the struggles of the futures, we looked to the past.
I cannot say that I am surprised, just disappointed. I had hoped that more Jim Somervilles would have risen in patience and humility, willing to re-evaluate our ability to associate with a church that sees things a little bit differently than us. I doubt much would have changed; perhaps only the language used would have better reflected 2012 rather than 1993.
I guess I had really hoped (and still hope) that more Christians would take up the mantle of Abraham. I had hoped that we would be willing to argue and struggle with God and Scripture to see if we can find some righteousness in what we have turned into and written off as Sodom and Gomorrah. Will we cry out as Christ cried, “God forgive them,” or will we cry out for judgment?
While, yes, I am in disagreement of the resolution, I am more in disagreement with the unwillingness to revisit the resolution and its implications on our congregations and more specifically our future generations.
Certainly I am only one voice in my generation, so listen to me or not. But listen to my generation as a whole, and be prepared to hear something that you may or may not agree with. Do not think that the breaking of the body of Christ through the breaking of fellowship with Ginter Park Baptist Church has ended this debate.
On this I take my stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen.
Andrew Gardner (abgardner@email.wm.edu) of Yorktown, Va., is a recent graduate of the College of William & Mary and a student at Wake Forest University School of Divinity.