Baptists from the Baptist Union (BU) are finding themselves facing controversy over homosexuality, as one of the regional associations has dissented from the denomination’s declared position, citing it as unbibli-cal and has attempted to outlaw its churches from conducting same sex marriages, it was reported on 24 April.
The West of England Baptist Association (WEBA) – one of 13 BU regional associations – has effectively challenged guidance issued by the BU which says each minister can make up its own mind on the issue of same sex marriage.
Setting national standards
The matter of what is or isn’t allowed is complex for BU churches because of the way they are structured: each church is independent, but the BU is responsible for setting national standards for the conduct of ministers. After same sex marriage was introduced in the UK, the BU issued guidance at its Assembly.
The BU decided it could not forbid churches from registering for same sex marriages (if they want to) because of the BU ‘Declaration of Principle’. This is a sort of constitution which says that ‘each church has liberty, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to interpret and administer [Christ’s] laws’.
No discipline
So the BU’s guidance said ministers who conducted same sex marriages wouldn’t be disciplined for doing so. But it also asserted a traditionalist view of marriage as ‘a union between a man and a woman, as the continuing foundation of belief in BU churches’ and said that while ministers might be able to celebrate a same sex marriage for someone else, they wouldn’t be able to enter into one themselves.
However WEBA issued its own statement to churches last summer, circulated in a prayer letter from the regional minister team leader, the Revd Nigel Coles. The trustees were severely critical of the BU’s position, not just because of its inconsistency, but because, they said, it was unbiblical.
Unity at the cost of integrity
They suggested that ‘unity was the primary objective at the cost of biblical integrity… the issue is not about homosexuality per se, but about the Bible… and the BU’s statement appears to reduce the place of the Bible in decision-making’. The same sex marriage issue could be deeply divisive, WEBA said, adding: ‘We are not prepared to sit down quietly and simply watch this happen. We are aware a number of churches would seriously consider leaving the BU altogether unless a clearer understanding is reached.’
The WEBA trustees say that in line with a 2007 refusal to use a redundant church for a civil partnership ceremony, the trust company ‘does not give permission for any building for which we are the holding trustees to be used for such purposes’.
Not all churches in WEBA are in agreement on this issue, though. Some see it as a clear challenge to the autonomy of the local church. At a number of points WEBA’s position is open to question. The responsibility of its trust company, for example, is to see that churches don’t transgress the terms of their trust deeds; as no BU church has it written anywhere in its trust deed that it can’t be used for a same sex wedding, it is extremely doubtful that WEBA could stop it happening.
Its statement repeatedly appeals to the Bible to justify its stance, and in a way that implies that people who don’t hold the same position simply ignore the Bible. The statement also says that the trustees: ‘Re-affirm our commitment to an evangelical understanding of the nature of marriage’.
The problem at the heart of this is that there are a good number of people who would claim to be evangelicals and yet who also support same sex marriage.
