DAYTON, Ohio (ABP) — In its recent annual meeting, the Alliance of Baptists adopted statements of concern about the politicization of gay marriage and the United States' relations with Cuba. The progressive group also elected a female chaplain from Baltimore as its new president.
The business meeting was held April 17 as part of the Alliance's 2004 convocation at First Baptist Church of Dayton. The meeting also was hosted by Cross Creek Community Church.
The statement on same-sex marriage explicitly condemned the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment, which would add a provision to the Constitution banning same-sex marriages in all 50 states. The resolution objected to that proposal and similar amendments to state constitutions “that would enshrine discrimination against sexual minorities and define marriage in such a way as to deny same-sex couples a legal framework in which to provide for one another and those entrusted to their care.”
The statement also decried what it called “the politicization of same-sex marriage in the current presidential contest and other races for public office.” It said that, “as Christians and as Baptists, we particularly lament the denigration of our gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender sisters and brothers in this debate by those who claim to speak for God.”
Alliance member Donna Mote of McDonough, Ga., presented the statement, which delegates adopted without objection.
The resolution on the U.S. and Cuba is the latest in a series of statements the group has adopted calling for normalization of relations between the two countries. It commended the House and Senate for recently passing bipartisan legislation containing provisions that would have lifted the ban, but condemned a House-Senate conference committee for “capitulation…to a threatened veto of the legislation by President Bush.”
The Alliance cooperates in a missions partnership with the Fraternity of Baptist Churches in Cuba, one of the communist island nation's two Baptist conventions.
The statement also voiced objection to the Treasury Department's 2003 decision to freeze the issuance of licenses to educational institutions for travel to Cuba. It particularly criticized the agency's assignment of 17 percent of workers in its office charged with monitoring foreign assets to enforcing the Cuba travel ban.
In addition, the statement condemned the agency's focus on “pursuit and prosecution of those who choose to travel to Cuba without licenses rather than pursuing its congressionally mandated mission of tracking and freezing the assets of terrorists.”
Cherie Smith, a chaplain in Baltimore and a former member of the group's board, was elected president. She most recently served on the Alliance's Strategic Planning Work Group. Chris Copeland, associate pastor at Oakhurst Baptist Church in Atlanta, was elected vice president. Mary Sue Brookshire, a chaplain at San Diego State University in California, was elected to a second term as secretary.
The group's board of directors, meeting prior to the convocation, approved a revised 2004 budget of $339,847. The budget is $9,000 less than the one originally adopted last September, primarily because a newly-budgeted position was not filled until May 1, rather than the anticipated date of Jan. 1.
The board also voted to make up a shortfall of nearly $17,000 in the 2003 Alliance Mission Offering from general operating funds. Directors believed a change in financial policy had resulted in much of the shortfall and felt it unfair to penalize the 28 recipients of the offering. It asked its finance committee to develop policy regarding such transfers in the future.
In other financial matters, Alliance Executive Director Stan Hastey announced the employment of Todd Heifner as part-time development director, effective May 1.
Heifner is a member of the Baptist Church of the Covenant in Birmingham, Ala. He has worked for Samford University, Passport and the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs in development positions. He holds a master's degree in fundraising management and institutional advancement from Vanderbilt University and a master's in business administration from Samford University. Heifner previously worked as a corporate contributions officer with BellSouth Corporation and launched into full-time consulting in December.
The Alliance is the more progressive of the two major moderate Baptist groups that split from the Southern Baptist Convention as its leadership moved sharply to the right during the 1980s and 90s.
The group's next convocation will be held April 1-3, 2005, at First Baptist Church of Greenville, S.C.
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