Baptist Church directory issue escalates in Texas

Ongoing conflict in Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas, has intensified, with 162 church members petitioning the congregation's deacon board for a meeting to vote on terminating senior minister Brett Younger, reports Baptist Press assistant editor Mark Kelly.

Broadway members found themselves divided last November over the inclusion of homosexual couples in a pictorial directory being prepared as part of the church's 125th anniversary celebration. The project was put on hold and on Feb. 11 the deacons recommended eliminating family photos and focusing the directory only on church groups and ministries.

On Sunday, Feb. 10, however, a group calling itself "Friends for the Future of Broadway" submitted their petition calling for a termination vote on Younger, who has led the congregation since April 2001.

In response, more than 200 church members signed a statement opposing Younger's ouster. In a Feb. 12 interview with the Dallas Morning News, Younger confirmed that a group of church members had offered him $50,000 to resign.

Broadway Baptist Church had maintained an uneasy truce on the issue of homosexuality by "welcoming" gays into membership and even leadership roles, without "affirming" homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle, according to news reports. Younger's critics feel he is moving the church toward an "affirming" position on homosexuality and take issue with his inviting liberal theologian Marcus Borg to preach at the church.

A letter mailed to church members blames Younger for "polarization, turmoil, [and] tension" in the church, leading to a membership decline and "loss of trust and confidence in our pastor's spiritual and administrative leadership," the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported. The mailing included a document titled "Reasons to 'Vacate the Pulpit,'" which lists specific complaints against Younger, including a new policy on registered sex offenders in the church and a project that allowed homeless people to spend the night in the church building.

A counterpoint letter distributed by Younger's supporters asserted that his critics were spreading "inaccuracies" and called for dialogue about the issues.

"There is room for discussion on this issue," the letter said. "There should be debate about this critically important question. There is not room, however, for actions that lead to mistrust and miscommunication in that discussion. This must cease. There is room for grace and love within our diversity. This must increase."

A vote on the deacon recommendation about the church directory is scheduled for Feb. 24.

Broadway has been a significant part of Baptist life in Fort Worth since 1883, when it was founded by John Smith Gillespie. One of Broadway's pastors was involved in the effort to locate Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth and various others have been professors at the seminary.

However, the church has maintained a certain level of disagreement with the Southern Baptist Convention since 1979, when the Conservative Resurgence began to turn the SBC toward biblical inerrancy. Cecil Sherman, the congregation's senior pastor from 1985-92, was the first executive director of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, a network of congregations organized in objection to the conservative direction the Southern Baptist Convention was taking.

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[02/19/2008]

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