Southern Baptists Ban Two Congregations for Accepting Homosexuals

Southern Baptists have banished two congregations for accepting homosexuals and set in motion a precedent-setting change in bylaws to exclude other churches that do the same.

The Southern Baptist Convention, attended by about 18,000 members, voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to expel two North Carolina congregations: the Pullen Memorial Church in Raleigh, which blessed a union of two homosexual men, and the Binkley Memorial Church in Chapel Hill, which ordained a homosexual to preach.

The convention said the two churches’ actions were “contrary to the teachings of the Bible on human sexuality and the sanctity of the family and are offensive to Southern Baptists.”

In the wake of the decision to banish the two churches, moderates say that fundamentalists have a means of purging the denomination of dissenting members.

Critics also said that ousting the churches endangered the Southern Baptist Convention’s historic principle of congregational autonomy.

But others attending the meeting of the nation’s biggest Protestant denomination insisted that the case was not likely to create a “slippery slope” of other infringements on local church independence.

“It was a highly unusual case that required highly unusual procedure,” said the Rev. David Hankins of Lake Charles, La., chairman of an executive committee that led the action.

He acknowledged, however, there “is a danger” that other causes might be pushed for similar penalties. “There’s a ditch on that side of the road. We have to be cautious,” he said.

Others took a dimmer view. “We have very seriously violated the autonomy of the local church,” said the Rev. Jack Harwell of Atlanta, editor of a moderate-oriented weekly, Baptist Today. “It’s a major break in a wall which has protected one of the most vital principles of our heritage for 150 years.”

The ousted congregations had taken their actions regarding homosexuals after months of discussion.

“We responded as faithfully as we knew how to requests for pastoral care,” the Rev. Mahan Siler, pastor of the Pullen Church, said in a telephone interview. “It’s unfortunate that this has been a source for a break in fellowship.

“I hate to see Baptists make essential to cooperation and membership any of our positions on social issues,” he added. “It is dangerous. It does violate our kind of freedom.”

The Rev. Linda Jordan of Binkley Memorial said that the church “has been very disappointed with the direction of the Southern Baptist Convention” for several years and that the expulsion was no surprise. Neither congregation had representatives at the convention.

Some Baptist leaders, including the newly elected president, the Rev. H. Edwin Young, voiced concern over initiating the constitutional revision.

Young, 55, who won the presidency in a three-way race, supported expulsion of the two congregations but said of the further step, “I don’t want us to begin putting doctrine into bylaws. We’ve got to be real careful.”

Others said the change could lead to a list of social taboos imposed on congregations from the top.

“If we keep it up, we’ll shrink the convention until it becomes a nice cozy little club,” said the Rev. Jess Moody of Chatsworth, Calif., a runner-up for president.

Young, pastor of Second Baptist Church in Houston, succeeds the Rev. Morris Chapman of Wichita Falls, Tex.

Young, who had won the endorsement of several past presidents of the convention, received 9,981 of the votes cast. Moody received 3,485 and the Rev. Nelson Price of Roswell Street Baptist Church in Marrietta, Ga., received 2,619.