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CBF's
Vestal seeks to counter news reports on homosexual issue By
Art Toalston This
article was published July 27,
2000 by Baptist Press, the official news agency of
the Southern Baptist Convention NASHVILLE,
Tenn. (BP)--A Baptist Press report on funding allocations by the Cooperative
Baptist Fellowship relating to the issue of homosexuality has prompted CBF
Coordinator Daniel Vestal to go to the Internet with a response. Six
Baptist Press stories on the CBF's recent General Assembly, with on-site
reporting by correspondent Russell Moore, are archived and available on the
Internet in the "Bapt Press" section at www.sbc.net. The
story in Baptist Press dated June 30 and targeted by Vestal noted in the first
paragraph: "The
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship will continue funding a pro-homosexual
organization whose booth was prominently featured at the CBF's General Assembly
and another group whose immediate past president suggested that homosexuals can
be called to the pastorate, according to action taken during the June 30-July 1
[CBF General Assembly] in Orlando, Fla." The
specific organizations: --
The Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America. --
Baptist Women in Ministry. Vestal,
in a July 25 response posted on the CBF's Internet site, countered, "The
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship has never issued any statement, taken any action,
or spent a single dollar that was intended in any way to condone, endorse or
promote the gay-lesbian lifestyle." The
CBF's relationship with the Baptist Peace Fellowship and Baptist Women in
Ministry "has nothing whatsoever to do with the issue of homosexuality. To
suggest otherwise is untrue," Vestal also stated. Baptist
Press, meanwhile, has received a number of observations about Vestal's response. "The
central issue here is one of contrast," one Baptist worker, for example,
said in an e-mail to Baptist Press. "The SBC has spoken clearly on the
issue of the gay agenda, both in the [Baptist Faith and Message] and in
countless resolutions. ... The CBF, however, has leaders who will broach this
subject only among the enlightened, educated elite of CBF assembly-goers. The
Baptists in the pews in CBF churches who fund the body have no right, it seems,
to ask about the viewpoints on this matter [homosexuality] of those leading the
organization. This is a denial of soul competency and is exactly the kind of
hubris which led Southern Baptists to eject this crew from leadership in 1979
and thereafter." Another
observer noted that CBF funding of the Baptist Peace Fellowship and Baptist
Women in Ministry are not the only problematic pro-homosexual involvements of
the CBF. The CBF itself produced an AIDS resource packet for churches in 1994
which included such assertions as, "We do not choose our sexual
orientation, but rather we 'awaken' to it" and "There are ... gay
families and lesbian families ... ." The CBF-funded Baptist Joint Committee
on Public Affairs joined with such homosexual activist groups as the National
Gay and Lesbian Task Force in producing in 1994 a manual titled, "How to
Win: A Practical Guide for Defeating the Radical Right in Your Community."
Among the manual's assertions: "You cannot successfully battle right wing
forces without gay and lesbian participation." Vestal,
in his response to the June 30 Baptist Press story about CBF allocations to the
Baptist Peace Fellowship of North American and Baptist Women in Ministry,
maintained that both allocations are "consistent with CBF's mission and
core values." Concerning
the Baptist Peace Fellowship, Vestal said the CBF "does not contribute to
the operating budget" of the organization, but Vestal explained there is
"one line item of $9,000" in the CBF budget for contracting with the
BPFNA for "developing congregational resources dealing with issues of
church conflict and reconciliation, restorative justice and biblical teachings
about peace, justice and reconciliation." Baptist
Press, in its June 30 story, noted that the Baptist Peace Fellowship, at its
booth in the CBF exhibit hall, was promoting a church "resource" which
affirms same-sex partnerships, denies that the Bible condemns homosexual
behavior and depicts homosexuality as an unchangeable sexual orientation. Titled
"Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth: A Resource for Congregations in
Dialogue on Sexual Orientation," the 250 page book, which sells for $22.50,
was produced in conjunction with the Alliance of Baptists. A
Baptist Peace Fellowship promotional sheet cited 13 people who endorsed the
resource, quoting a paragraph from each, including former CBF moderator Carolyn
Weatherford Crumpler and Tim Clifton, president of the Central Baptist
Theological Seminary, Kansas City, Kan. Vestal,
noting that 93 exhibitors were in the CBF exhibit hall, or "Resource
Fair," said, "CBF has not attempted to screen and approve each of the
thousands of resources on display at the Resource Fair. Instead, all Resource
Fair vendors are asked to exhibit in ways that support and complement the
mission statement of CBF and the purpose and objectives of the General Assembly.
If any of the materials displayed at the Resource Fair are determined to be in
conflict with CBF's mission and core values, then future participation by that
vendor will be reevaluated." Vestal
did not indicate, however, that a review has been initiated of the Baptist Peace
Fellowship's pro-homosexual church resource. The
Baptist Peace Fellowship, in 1995, issued two statements affirming "gay,
lesbian, bisexual and transgendered persons" in church life. The
organization's board, in the first statement, vowed it will "take an active
role at denominational meetings to oppose any resolutions which assault the
integrity of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered persons and prevent them
from becoming members of churches, being ordained, being credentialed for
chaplaincy and pastoral counseling and being employed in denominational
structures." Concerning
Women in Ministry, Vestal said the CBF has allocated $30,000 to the group
"as a partner in networking, encouraging and supporting women, both laity
and clergy, in congregational ministry." Vestal
referenced a section of the Baptist Press article citing comments by Becca
Gurney, immediate past president of the women's group. The
Baptist Press account stated that Gurney told a CBF session that the SBC has no
right to suggest that God does not call women to the pastorate, and she likewise
has no right to suggest that God does not call gays and lesbians to the
pastorate. "Who am I to say who God can call and gift for ministry?"
she said. "In terms of God calling gays and lesbians, when we start
limiting God's call we're in dangerous territory." Said
Vestal: "If she [Gurney] was quoted directly, I personally disagree with
some of her statements. But her comments on that issue have nothing to do with
the nature of our cooperative work with Baptist Women in Ministry." Concern
continues, however, that Gurney's comments reflect a pattern among the
presidents of Baptist Women in Ministry. The
current president, Raye Nell Dyer, is listed, for example, as one of five
spokespersons -- "resources to the media for interviews and talk
shows" -- in a news release issued by a pro-homosexual group, Equal
Partners in Faith, titled, "Progressive Religious Leaders Respond to Racism
and Homophobia by Southern Baptist Convention Leaders." The Equal Partners
in Faith news release contends that SBC leaders "want to keep women in the
kitchen and gays in the closet." SBC stances on the family and on
homosexuality were "not about Scripture," but "about politics,
plain and simple." Equal Partners in Faith is led by Steven Baines, an open
homosexual and self-described Southern Baptist minister who told Baptist Press,
July 27, that he was ordained by First Baptist Church, Charleston, S.C. Kathy
Manis Findley, who was president of Baptist Women in Ministry prior to Dyer and
Gurney, is the pastor of Providence Baptist Church, Little Rock, Ark., which was
cited as having "a pro-gay stance" when it received an Alliance of
Baptists grant in 1997. Vestal,
in other parts of his response to the Baptist Press June 30 story, said: --
he and his predecessor, Cecil Sherman, "have made unequivocal public
statements expressing our personal views on the subject of homosexual
behavior," equating homosexual practices with other sinful behaviors. --
the June 30 Baptist Press story is "inflammatory," raising
"unnecessary questions" which have cast "doubts ... on the
people, the churches and the ministries of the Cooperative Baptist
Fellowship." "Frankly,"
Vestal claimed, "the so-called news stories produced by Baptist Press about
the 2000 General Assembly ought to be an embarrassment to any self-respecting
news organization." Will
Hall, vice president for convention news with the SBC Executive Committee,
noted, however, "Our reports were factually and contextually accurate about
events and statements made at the CBF meeting. Not one point of fact has been
disputed." --
he (Vestal) is issuing anew his call for "the leaders of the [Southern
Baptist Convention] to put an end to the mean-spirited assault on fellow
believers who are part of the Fellowship. There ought always to be room for
disagreement among Christians, but our commitment to honesty, integrity and
fairness ought to reflect the spirit of Christ." Vestal's
call, however, contrasts with his own signature on a 1995 document charging that
the "Radical Religious Right poses significant dangers to our churches, our
political system, and our American way of life." |
