A church in Charlotte has turned itself in to the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, admitting it is in violation of the convention's new stance against homosexuality.
The deacons at Myers Park Baptist Church sent an open letter to state convention officers Feb. 6 saying the church welcomes gay and lesbian persons to participate fully in church life and serve as church leaders. Messengers to the state convention meeting in November changed their governing documents to say churches that support homosexuality are no longer in “friendly cooperation” with the convention—in effect excluding them.
“The purpose of this letter is to inform you there is no need to wait upon the secret reports of others,” the deacons' letter said, noting convention procedures call for two complaints about a church before an investigation is started. “We, with our 1,850 members serving as witnesses, hereby turn ourselves in.”
Convention officials declined to comment.
The letter invited officials to visit the church and get to know the congregation this spring. The deacons “believe strongly in the gospel's power of transformation through experience,” they said. “Please come join us in all facets of our church life, including our worship, Christian education, mission outreach and all of the other activities of our congregation. We welcome the opportunity for dialogue with you.”
Baptist churches are autonomous. The letter acknowledged the convention's authority as an autonomous group to determine its membership, but it also noted that the convention's articles of incorporation say the convention “is not set up to govern or exercise any authority over other Baptist bodies but to assist churches in promoting missions, evangelism, education and social services.”
Deacons also noted that the amendment's effect “is to govern interpretation of the Bible by majority vote.”
“We hope that a Baptist convention operating in the spirit of the Baptist principles of soul competence, soul freedom and local-church autonomy would provide for a wider range of scriptural interpretation than your decision indicates,” the letter said. “We are also concerned about what other differences of scriptural interpretation the convention might use in the future to exclude North Carolina churches.”
The letter noted that Myers Park has been a part of the state convention since the church's founding in 1943.
“We have happily contributed both our members and our financial resources to the purposes of the convention,” the letter said. “While we have not always been in agreement with you (nor you with us), our differences were guided by a mutual respect and a spirit of fellowship.”
The deacons also noted that they recognize both the church and the convention are seeking to be faithful to God.
“We have a long and important relationship with North Carolina Baptists,” they wrote. “While we are not eager to see ties broken, we reaffirm Christ's welcome to all persons and our commitment to being a healing witness in a world of divisions and a part of God's dream to make all things one.”
Meanwhile, two more North Carolina churches have left the convention over its anti-gay policy.
On Feb. 4, St. John's Baptist Church in Charlotte decided to break ties. Four days earlier, members of Park Road Baptist Church, also in Charlotte, voted likewise to sever ties with the group.
All told, 11 moderate and progressive churches have publicly pulled out of the convention in the last four years, citing its rightward drift. Members of the disgruntled congregations say increasingly conservative policies embraced by convention leaders have harmed their ministry.
Nineteen Baptist churches in North Carolina, including St. John's and Park Road, are affiliated with the Alliance of Baptists. The group is comprised mainly of the most progressive of the churches that began to split from the Southern Baptist Convention in the 1980s.
As a group, the Alliance is officially welcoming and affirming of gays and advocates the legalization of same-sex civil marriage. However, not all of its partner congregations have made that move on the local level.