Jerusalem Council Process

MINISTERS COUNCIL SENATE 2004 COMMUNICATION

The Ministers Council Executive Committee in conference call on August 2 discussed the request from one region executive minister that the Senate refuse to seat one third-year Senator elected by a constituent Ministers Council. The request was generated by the knowledge that the Senator is a lesbian who has legalized her relationship with her partner in marriage, as state law allows. 

The Executive Committee decided the following: 

• That she will be seated as an agent of a constituent Council that has duly elected her as Senator, according to Ministers Council Bylaws

ARTICLE VIII - SENATE

Section 1. There shall be a Senate of the Ministers Council composed of members elected by constituent councils affiliated with this body, Senators-At-Large elected by the Senate, the editor of ministry journal, and the members of the Executive Committee of this body…

Section 3. Each constituent council affiliated with this body shall be entitled to one Senator for every one hundred national dues paying members, or fraction thereof. All Constituent Councils will be financially responsible for a minimum of 50% of the costs of their elected Senators.

• That she step back from serving this summer as an unelected substitute committee chair in the place of an elected chair who will be absent from Senate 2004
• That the Senate will begin a process to examine the various issues raised by the situation
• That the Senate will not be pressed on timeline toward resolution but will embrace the fair expectation of an appropriately timely resolution
• That the Senate will hold in mind both relevant General Board Resolutions

 8200:10/92

AMERICAN BAPTIST RESOLUTION ON HOMOSEXUALITY

We affirm that the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.

Adopted by the General Board of the American Baptist Churches by Mail Vote - October 1992
110 Yes, 64 No, 5 Abstentions

8201:3/93

AMERICAN BAPTIST RESOLUTION CALLING FOR DIALOGUE ON HUMAN SEXUALITY
Since our founding days, we American Baptists have heralded the Bible as central to our lives. Individuals have the right and responsibility to interpret Scripture under the guidance of the Holy Spirit within the community of faith. We have also come together to seek the mind of Christ on contemporary issues, knowing that none of our corporate statements claims to speak for all of us. The time has come for our churches, Regions, National Boards, and the General Board of the American Baptist Churches, USA to consider prayerfully the mind of Christ regarding human sexuality.
Therefore, we call on American Baptists to:

1. Testify that Jesus Christ is the unifying presence in our denomination.
2. Explore the biblical and theological issues of human sexuality.
3. Consider using the resources identified and gathered by the ABC Commission on Resources on Human Sexuality.
4. Acknowledge that there exists a variety of understandings throughout our denomination on issues of human sexuality such as homosexuality and engage in dialogue concerning these issues.
5. Respect and defend the individual integrity of all persons within our denomination and their Christian commitment as we engage the issue of human sexuality.
6. Pray fervently that as we honestly address these concerns we may seek unity and avoid divisiveness as we grow in our common mission for Jesus Christ.

Adopted by the General Board of the American Baptist Churches, USA - June 1993
96 For, 69 Against, 3 Abstentions
Modified by the Executive Committee of the General Board - September 1998

Regional Boards recommending and adopting this resolution:
American Baptist Churches of Connecticut (February 20, 1993)
American Baptist Churches of Massachusetts (November 21, 1992)
American Baptist Churches of Rhode Island (November 15, 1992)
American Baptist Churches of Rochester/Genesee (December 2, 1992)
Philadelphia Baptist Association (November 21, 1992)

POLICY BASE

Historical American Baptist Statement Concerning Freedom - Adopted June 1978
For Baptists the word 'freedom' is a watermark. It is impressed into our doctrine, our polity, our practice. It cannot be eradicated. Baptists, mindful of Roger Williams' pattern, have endeavored in all kinds of political and religious climates to maintain a continuing witness to the principle of liberty and conscience.
We affirm our devotion to liberty or conscience under God and under law. We reaffirm our loyalty and devotion to truth fairly arrived at, by free inquiry and debate without restriction or coercion.

Policy Statement on Human Rights - Adopted December 1976
Baptist history is rooted in concern for conscience and freedom for persons to believe, to choose, to live unregimented, whether by religious dogma and institution or by social and political structures. John Bunyan in prison and Roger Williams driven from Massachusetts, reflect commitment to these ideas, as did Martin Luther King, in his witness to human dignity and the rights of minority groups. Resolutions by the American Baptist Churches over the years have particularly sought to reflect the denomination's basic principles of freedom of thought and belief, the right of dissent, the responsibility to speak prophetically to church and society and support for human dignity and social justice.

As American Baptists we declare the following rights to be basic human rights, and we will support programs and measures to assure these rights:

6. The right to follow the dictates of conscience, to express dissent individually or in groups to prevailing ideas, governments and institutions;
9. The right to human dignity, to be respected and treated as a person and to be protected against discrimination without regard to age, sex, race, class, marital status, income, national origin, legal status, culture or condition in society.

Policy Statement on Christian Unity - Adopted June 1978
We can explore with others the Bible, seeking with them the guidance of the Holy Spirit, in an effort to discover more fully what is the will of God for His people in this time and to determine the nature of the unity we seek and how we manifest it. We must engage in fresh, biblical studies which can be based on a frank examination of the conscious or unconscious presuppositions with which Baptists have traditionally read and interpreted the Scriptures. We must avoid rigid stereotypes and seek to express our witness with an openness of mind and spirit. The Christian faith is centered in a person. It is not a legalistic code which forms our faith; it is the living Christ. Basic, then, to our task is the rediscovery of our genius as Baptists for religious liberty and freedom of opportunity for the dialogue and discovery so that our faith many not be idolatrous but centered on God.

Supporting Documents
American Baptist Resolution Against Manifestation of Prejudice