FORT WORTH, Texas (ABP) — The latest prominent Baptist church caught in a highly publicized, Internet-fueled controversy is a historically moderate one — and similar struggles may await other moderate congregations.
Members of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas, will vote Feb. 24 on a compromise proposal for a new pictorial directory to mark the congregation's 125th anniversary. Last year, a dispute erupted over whether to include photos of coupled gay members alongside other couples and families. The congregation attempted to resolve the situation last December and ultimately gave it over to the board of deacons.
But a disgruntled group of more than 150 members has signed petitions calling for the congregation to vote on whether to oust Pastor Brett Younger. The group, calling itself Friends for the Future of Broadway, says the handling of the directory and other issues has proven that Younger's leadership is divisive and that he has led the church away from its “historical moderate Baptist theological heritage.”
A larger group has signed a counter-petition calling for continued dialogue over sexuality and other divisive issues within the congregation.
Younger, in Feb. 19 comments that constituted his first on-the-record interview about the controversy, said determining Broadway's true identity is the biggest question.
“People on both sides agree that the question here — it's more than just about the pastor. It's about the kind of church that Broadway wants to be,” he said. “And so my hope is that we will find a process by which we will understand more fully what kind of church we want to be, and if it's not the kind of church that … needs me to be the pastor, then that will be obvious.
“Broadway has long had the reputation outside the church of being inclusive and creative and an alternative to most Baptist churches. But there were many good members of Broadway who came here for other reasons and who have been a wonderful part of the church, so we have this tension between being an alternative and being traditional.”
The congregation, founded in 1882, has been one of the most prominent churches in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and in national Baptist life. Its pastors have included Cecil Sherman, the founding coordinator of the moderate Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. And generations of students, professors and administrators at nearby Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary have been active members.
While it always has been different in its theological approach and worship style from many Southern Baptist congregations, Broadway has since 1979 increasingly charted a direction away from its historic denomination. That year, fundamentalists began taking over the Southern Baptist Convention's governing structure.
But Younger's leadership has taken the church beyond where many members are comfortable going, according to a manifesto from the group opposed to the pastor.
“The pastor has taken Broadway, without authorization from the deacons or the congregation, far away from its own historical moderate Baptist heritage based on timeless core foundational doctrines of the Christian faith,” said a statement, titled “Reasons to ‘Vacate the Pulpit,'” circulated among those who signed the anti-Younger petition.
The spokesman for that group, Robert Saul, said Feb. 20 the sexuality issue isn't the only or even the primary reason the group opposes his leadership.
“I don't know of a single person in our group that is against gay and lesbian people being members of our church,” he said in a telephone interview. “Now, I do believe that not only in our group but many, many in the church feel that we should be a welcoming church but not an affirming church.”
The broader issue, Saul said, is Younger's leadership style. “My concern is that the church is so divided and has been for months under Dr. Younger's divisive leadership, and it's just become more divided.”
Saul's group faulted Younger for mishandling the directory issue as well as several other recent church controversies. Other supposed mishaps include the development of a policy for registered sex offenders within the church and Younger inviting controversial theologian Marcus Borg to preach.
Younger said that the congregation has had a long tradition of inviting thought-provoking speakers like Borg, that the church approved the sex-offender policy by a two-thirds vote, and that the policy “incorporated both the need to protect children and to be as inclusive as the gospel” when dealing with those who have committed sex crimes.
On the directory issue, the compromise proposal to be presented by the deacons involves featuring as many members as possible in candid and group photos, but without photos of family groupings. The proposal, according to a statement from deacon chair Kathy Madeja, respects the diversity of opinions within the congregation on what constitutes a family: It neither endangers the church's standing in the Baptist General Convention of Texas — which has expelled pro-gay churches — nor violates its governing documents. Broadway's bylaws, she said, “state all members are equal in rank and privilege.”
The controversy has been publicized on several blogs, including two run by Broadway members. Those led to news stories in at least two secular news agencies — the Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram — and conservative Christian outlets, such as the SBC's Baptist Press.
Both Younger and Saul agree the outside attention has not helped the situation.
“I think the presence of the Internet and private blogs make it even more imperative that the church be open in its discussions,” Younger said. “It's impossible to chase down all the misstatements that are made, and so it becomes more important that the church address the questions facing the church in church settings.”
Saul said the publicity has taught him one important lesson in dealing with church fights. “Do not go to the open Web,” he said. “After it gets out there on the Web like that, then the press starts calling.”
Younger also said churches will inevitably have to deal with issues surrounding their views on homosexuality. “I think the best advice I could give is to start talking about it before you have to start voting,” he said, noting that Broadway has hosted lectures and studies on ways to interpret passages in Scripture that deal with sexuality.
The church also invited prominent Baptist sociologist Tony Campolo and his wife, Peggy, to discuss how to maintain Christian fellowship despite such differences. The couple disagrees over how to understand the Bible's view of homosexuality.
“I think an awful lot more people in the church have the sense that we can be the kind of church that continues to struggle with this issue just like you struggle with a lot of issues,” Younger said. “We have people with different opinions on the war [in Iraq] … but they still share [the] church.”
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