Over the past several weeks the focus of many conversations has been on the decision of the executive committee of the Virginia Baptist Mission Board to exclude Ginter Park Baptist Church from fellowship because they ordained a man who happens to be homosexual
When I moved to Virginia I learned about the unique association that has allowed conservatives, moderates and progressives to exist together as one body. I have found that Jesus is the only thing many of us have in common, but that our love for Christ overflows in such a way that we are able to love one another and abide together in unity, at least until recently.
Joseph Perdue
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Many of the arguments from the moderate perspective in support of Ginter Park have centered around the autonomy of the local church. I not think many of these arguments go far enough in addressing the reasoning behind local autonomy. If we were talking about a purely human institution one could argue that the institution's leadership should have some control over membership, but in the case of the Church we are not talking about a human institution. If church autonomy were an end in itself we could say that we are saddened or outraged by the executive committee's decision, but in the end we would be forced to concede that Ginter Park is still autonomous in spite of their exclusion. As should be clear to anyone with knowledge of Baptist history, church autonomy is not an end in itself; rather it is the humble recognition that God alone gets to determine what is proper in the life of the Church.
Our earliest Baptist ancestors did not break away from the corrupt (at that time) Church of England simply because they wanted the freedom to do as they pleased. The state church operated as a strict hierarchy, with the leadership determining the proper way to believe, pray and worship. The Church leadership placed itself in a position to make determinations that are beyond human capacity by telling believers that only their official system was acceptable to God. Thomas Helwys put it this way: The Church of England had “usurped the prerogatives of God” by putting itself in God’s place. An entity that should have existed to the glorification of its Lord had become an idol. The early Baptists recognized that one could not worship both God and idols with integrity and established groups of independent congregations that associated freely, and operated under the leadership of the Holy Spirit.
Four hundred years later, Baptists are again faced with a choice that is reminiscent of the one faced by our forebears. With the annual Baptist General Association of Virginia meeting approaching, only one question needs to be asked: Will we affirm with Baptist tradition that God alone has the prerogative to determine the Church’s faith and practice?
The issue is not whether Ginter Park should have proceeded with the ordination. What each of us think personally about homosexuality is quite irrelevant. What matters is this: A man who felt called by the Holy Spirit to ordination had his calling tested by a local church. This church, through prayer and the help of the same Spirit felt led to ordain him. In response the executive committee has chosen to act on behalf of all Virginia Baptists, without even the courtesy to present the issue for the messengers to vote on. Even more troubling, I believe it has usurped God’s prerogative by declaring that the call and ordination of a believer is invalid, and amputating a limb from the body of Christ.
We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. Our theology and practice has been shaped by millions of Baptists who came before us. We must now decide whether we will embrace the legacy of people like Smyth and Helwys, of Leland and Williams, or whether we will turn away ashamed from the Baptist birthright they have given us. It is my prayer that Virginia Baptists will take our rightful place in Baptist history, and in the process, find a way to work to the unity of the greater body of Christ in spite of our differences.
Joseph Perdue ([email protected]) is a master of divinity student at Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond.