Southern Baptists Seek "Disassociation" of Church with Active Gay Members

Anti-gay Baptists are pushing for the expulsion from the Southern Baptist Convention of a Fort Worth church that, they say, does not stick to scripture when it comes to homosexuality.

Fort Worth's Broadway Baptist Church has been targeted by the Rev. Bill Sanderson.

Sanderson, a pastor at the Wendell, NC Hephzibah Baptist Church, initiated a motion on June 10 during the annual gathering of the Southern Baptist Church, which took place in Indianapolis, to see the Fort Worth Church be disassociated from the denomination, reported the Star Telegram in a June 12 story.

Sanderson's motion was sent to the church's executive committee. A report from the committee is expected at the next annual meeting, scheduled to convene in Louiseville, KY.

At the root of the motion is a claim by Sanderson and his supporters that the Fort Worth church has allowed gays to assume leadership positions within the congregation.

Said Rev. Bart Barber, who is a pastor at the First Baptist Church of Farmersville, "The church has not risen up and said homosexuality is wrong."

Harriet Harral, who formerly served as a chairwoman to the board of deacons at Broadway Baptist, was quoted in the article as saying, "I had hoped there would not be this action."

Added Harral, "Southern Baptists honor local church autonomy, and this is an example of a church family that has dealt with difficult church issues and done it in love and with a lot of respect, following what we think the dictates of Jesus are."

(The article pointed out that Harral is married to the newspaper's Editorial Director, Paul Harral.)

The present chairwoman for the church's board of deacons, Kathy Medjea, indicated that Broadway Baptist would offer its cooperation to the SBC's executive committee, the article said.

Also at issue is a months-ago controversy in which gay congregants had requested that they be pictured in the church directory together with their families.

Rather than create a double standard for which members would be shown with their families and which would not, the church opted to forego family photos, as well as pictures of individuals.

This solution prompted some to call for the removal of the church's senior pastor, Rev. Brett Younger. Against Younger was a faction of the congregation called Friends for the Future of Broadway, who amassed 160 signatures calling for Younger to leave.

However, that push was countered by the more than 300 supportive members of the 1,500-member church, and a subsequent vote on Younger's status saw the Reverend receive a mod of confidence from his parishioners with more than twice as many voting in favor of Younger staying on that voted to see him leave.

However, subsequent to the vote, Younger left the church and accepted a posting at a divinity school in Atlanta.

Younger declined to comment on the latest maneuver, saying, "I adore the congregation and have admiration for its ministries, but I think it would be inappropriate for me as a former pastor to comment," the article said.

Sanderson's motion was fairly vague, seeking only that Broadway Baptist should be found "not to be in friendly cooperation," but omitting any specifics.

Barber denied that the issue at base was the directory and the subsequent upheaval that ensued. "That's not a point of theology," said Barber.

No delegates, or "messengers," were in attendance at the convention from Broadway Baptist, as has been the case for several years, the article said.