“To insist on unanimity is as unBaptist as to cower in silence.” -Frank Tupper

The quote above was taken from a post that went up on Homebrewed Christianity’s website today. Dr. Frank Tupper, a Professor of Theology at Wake Divinity School, had submitted a proposal for a workshop that would create some open conversation among Cooperative Baptists at this week’s CBF General Assembly Gathering in Houston July 2-3.

A few months prior to this week’s gathering CBF decided that this sort of conversation could best be addressed in local churches rather than at a General Assembly gathering. As a Cooperative Baptist minister I am not surprised by this. I am, however, disappointed.

I can appreciate to a certain point CBF’s justification that this is a local church conversation. That’s a very Baptist response. However, as Tupper argues in his post, creating space for church leaders to discuss it, and wrestle with how to bring the conversation before their congregations is the missing link in local church conversations about homosexuality, same-sex unions, and sexuality in general.

I can tell you as a CBF minister that conversations concerning homosexuality within the local church have the greatest potential to end one’s career. Yes, even among moderate Baptist congregations, “acceptance” still has a very clear and often impenetrable barrier. Leaving the conversation up to the local congregation in my opinion is a cop-out. What’s worse, it leaves CBF ministers exposed — especially if they happen to be outspoken about embracing homosexuals as people made in God’s image.

I am disappointed that CBF leaders are misusing the Baptist distinctive of local church autonomy to avoid a responsibility to lead out in genuine conversation about a significant challenge that faces the church today. What’s more, they taint that principle by setting their ministers up to fail should they raise the conversation on their own. This makes it easy for congregations to assume they’re dealing with the will and whim of an individual, as opposed to their being participants in a larger conversation deemed important by their CBF community of churches.

Conversation about homosexuality, and even sexuality as a whole, have always been a source of significant anxiety for Baptists. Denying their importance and simply leaving it up to ministers to face on their own amidst already insecure congregations (due to decline and the culture shift) is a recipe for disaster.

I have a significant amount of respect for CBF, and have been a part of that fellowship for over a decade. However, as in any good friendship, speaking the truth can be painful. CBF, you are letting me and others like me down by not having the courage to make space for conversations about homosexuality & sexual identity as part of the national CBF discourse. Yes, its a messy and challenging conversation. Conversations about human dignity, relationality, and the scandalous love of God always are. Yet openness to receive the other and enter into dialog is what sets us (CBF) apart from other organizations that prefer to dictate doctrine and practice. Which brings us back to the quote at the beginning of this post.

Be not afraid CBF! You were formed in exile as a people who sought to preserve Baptist freedoms at a time when they were being taken away. Help us exercise that freedom by making space for the difficult conversations facing the church today regarding homosexuality and sexual identity.

For those of you interested in following the proposed discussion by Dr. Frank Tupper, he will be running a series of posts at the Homebrewed Christianity site.