I am seeing an increase in articles about the Christian faith and the church in mainstream media. Not sure if this is because the number of articles being written on the topics are on the rise, or if I have fallen into some kind of algorithmic loop, based on my previous reading history. Nonetheless, the most recent one to catch my eye is an April 4th, article in USA Today entitled,
”Georgia church defies Southern Baptist Convention, accepts gay members.”The article goes on to tell the story of a Georgia Southern Baptist church that was removed from the Southern Baptist Convention, because they accepted practicing homosexual members.
These stories always fascinate me. What we have here is an organization that has very thoughtfully and prayerfully determined the terms under which a church may be a member in good standing of their convention. As such, somewhere along the way, thirty-two years ago, the members of town View Baptist Church in Kennesaw, Georgia, very thoughtfully and prayerfully determined that they wished to be a member of the Southern Baptist Convention. In doing so, one presumes that they reviewed the doctrines and policies of the SBC – including the one that prohibited members that were practicing homosexuals – and determined that they were in full alignment with the organization before they signed on as members. In doing so, they agreed to operate their church by the doctrines and policies set forth by the SBC. Apparently, this was satisfactory to both Town View Baptist Church and the Southern Baptist Convention for nearly 30 years.
But then, the article tells us, “Conrad [Town View Senior Pastor] never imagined it was a rule he would have to contend with.
That changed in May 2019 when he received an email from John Reynolds, a hospital administrator from Indiana who had just moved to Dallas, Georgia, with his partner John McClanahan and their three adopted boys.”
The article goes on to describe Conrad’s spiritual and philosophical journey that brought him to this point. We learn that Conrad “forged his faith” as a teenager in a conservative Baptist Church. We’re told that at the same time, the Florida Legislature was creating legislation to prohibit gay couples from adopting children – though how this is related to Town View and the SBC is lost on me. The article goes on to tell us that over the years, Conrad had begun to examine the SBC teachings on homosexuality, particularly after 2016, when a gunman killed 45 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando, FL. Again, the connection to the SBC and this horrific tragedy of the Pulse nightclub is beyond me, but then these are Conrad’s thoughts, not mine. Nevertheless, the pastor admits he had often struggled with the concept of how someone could be a Christian and gay.
After receiving the email from Reynolds, Conrad writes, “His basic question was ‘Would my family be welcomed in your church?’ I’d never had anyone ask me that question before.” Conrad goes on to explain, “I was like, I can either tell this guy ‘No’ or say something kinder and say we’re not ready for that. And if I’d told him either of those answers we wouldn’t have had any controversy; nobody would have left and nobody would have known. But I couldn’t have slept at night.”
We often talk of that crossroads in life…that one line that – once crossed – we can never go back. It is often the point at which we look back and think, “woulda/coulda/shoulda,” and to my mind, this is that line for Pastor Conrad and the Town View Baptist Church.
We are not made privy to the behind the scenes conversations that may, or may not, have taken place between Pastor Conrad and his body of Deacons – the governing body within the Baptist Church. The article doesn’t tell us if Pastor Conrad held a church “town hall” or general business meeting to discuss the matter with the congregation at large. We don’t know if this was a majority decision to invite Reynolds and McClanahan to join Town View Baptist Church, or if Pastor Conrad unilaterally took it upon himself to extend the right hand of fellowship to the homosexual couple. What we do know is that the door was opened, and that decision culminated in the loss of one-third of the church membership, subsequent loss of staff, and disfellowship from the Southern Baptist Convention.
Curtis Freeman, Director of the Baptist House of Studies at Duke Divinity School is quoted in the article as saying, “There is a really toxic culture going on right now,” describing his assessment of the current climate of the Southern Baptist Convention. Freeman continues, “I think the Southern Baptists have really got some soul searching to do right now, because it’s not just this,” meaning it’s not just the SBC position on homosexuality.
What I find fascinating, however, is how the SBC can be described as “toxic” and in need of “soul searching,” when it is Pastor Conrad and the Town View Baptist Church who went back on their agreement. Knowing the SBC doctrine on the matter of homosexual members, they willfully and openly violated the terms of their agreement – their agreement that, as a Southern Baptist Church, they would honor and uphold the doctrines and traditions of the Southern Baptist Convention which were – and continue to be – made crystal clear. If we compare this to a marriage, it is Town View that is the cheating spouse, and somehow they are the victims because the SBC filed for divorce due to infidelity.
What if Pastor Conrad would have done the right thing…the hard thing and honored his commitment to the Town View Baptist Church and the Southern Baptist Convention and explained to Reynolds that he and his gay partner were welcomed to come and worship, but they would not be allowed to become members as practicing homosexuals. Or, if Conrad would have had trouble sleeping at night as the result of such a response, what if he would have gone to his church leadership and discussed the fact that he no longer found his own personal beliefs on the matter in alignment with the SBC and opened a dialogue about withdrawing from the denomination? Either approach would have demonstrated honor and personal integrity…the character of a man – and a church – who keeps his word and honors his commitments. Unfortunately, both Conrad and the Town View Baptist Church chose to be unfaithful and dishonor the commitment they had made to the Southern Baptist Convention and its doctrines and policies. In taking a so-called stand based on conscience, they sacrificed their integrity in the process. And yet, the SBC is at fault for severing ties with an unfaithful partner?
And then, the 800 pound gorilla in the room, what about that infinitely inconvenient truth called the Bible?
The very first item on the official Baptist
Faith and Message – the vows exchanged by the marriage partners of Town View Baptist Church and the Southern Baptist Convention – on the SBC website is the Scripture: I. The Scriptures The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God’s revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation. If both partners hold to this first item, then it behooves us to examine what Scripture tells us about homosexuality. As is explained in this fairly complex article on the matter,the question is not so much about what Scripture teaches against homosexuality – or more specifically, homosexual relations – but rather what Scripture teaches about sexual relations that are prescribed by, and acceptable to, God. Within that framework, Scripture ordains monogamous marriage between one man and one woman or a single life of celibacy as the sole options available to a true Follower of Jesus Christ walking in obedience to Scripture. Anything else is sin, including sex between one man and one woman outside of the context of marriage, as well as any kind of sex between two men or two women (i.e. homosexual relations).
This raises the question about why Reynolds and his partner would seek out membership in Town View Baptist Church – a church that was , at that time, committed to the Southern Baptist Convention. From the article:
Reynolds said he and his partner hadn’t gone to Towne View looking to change a church: “We weren’t even looking for one to affirm everything about us and love us. Just a place where sermons wouldn’t tell us our lifestyles were wrong or that we were living in sin.”
Really? So these two men living a lifestyle of homosexual relations pursued membership in a church who was essentially married to the Southern Baptist Convention – an organization that made no apologies for their Biblical position on homosexual relations, and they claim that they weren’t looking to change a church? What a load of bovine fecal matter. This untruth is solidified in the following assertion that they were looking for “Just a place where sermons wouldn’t tell us our lifestyles were wrong or that we were living in sin.” They pursued membership in a church that had pledged its commitment to an organization that clearly taught that their lifestyles were wrong and they were living in sin, and they claim they weren’t out to change the church? A brief aside, it is worth noting that all of this has taken place within a two-year timespan, and before the SBC had completed the disfellowship process, Reynolds and McClanahan had already moved back to Indiana to be closer to family during the pandemic. They came, they destroyed (with a lot of help from Pastor Conrad), and they left.
Interestingly, a quick perusal of the
Town View Baptist Church “What We Believe” pagestates, “…trust the Bible to be God’s true word and faithful guide for life,…” all except that part that discusses God’s plan for sexual relationships. Disappointingly, the page also asserts that “being true to the Bible is more important than being baptist,” which somewhat nastily infers that “Baptists” – presumably the Southern Baptist Convention – aren’t always Biblical. Apparently, it is not enough to cheat on one’s spouse, but one must also trash the victim of your infidelity at the same time. In the same breath, they proclaim part of their mission is to “share the Gospel with integrity,…” The fact that Reynolds and McClanahan found a church and a pastor whose “sermons wouldn’t tell us our lifestyles were wrong or that we were living in sin” make it perfectly clear that the good ship “Gospel Integrity” done sailed.
In broader terms, there is no doubt that the Evangelical church universal has made a lot of mistakes wherein homosexuals are concerned, and there is no doubt that we have a long way to go in reconciling this matter. It is a conversation worth having, and that conversation needs to be open, honest, and comprehensive. For example, I’m sure there are lots of Evangelicals and Evangelical churches pointing their finger in judgment at Town View for their handling of the issues of homosexual relations while turning a blind eye to that unmarried heterosexual couple who – with their children – always sit in the fourth row on the left. Both lifestyles are wrong and both are living in sin.
Likewise, in more specific terms, the Southern Baptist Convention – being a construct of man – has its issues and doesn’t get it right. Nevertheless, when it comes to Pastor Conrad and the Town View Baptist Church of Kennesaw, Georgia, they hit the nail on the head.