Baptist same-sex pressure

The Baptist Union (BU) council is considering changing the ministerial requirements in relation to same-sex marriage for its ministers.

It is understood 70 people, mainly BU ministers who are part of pressure group Affirming Baptists Together, signed a letter to the General Secretary of the BU requesting that it effectively change its rule requiring its ministers to be single or in a heterosexual marriage on the basis that it is discriminatory.

The council met in March to consider three key issues, including a potential change to the Ministerial Recognition Rules relating to what they say about marriage, apparently after receiving the letter.

The council is now considering various views and perspectives and the issue will then come before the Ministerial Recognition Committee. It is not known when that will happen.

The BU’s stated position is that it affirms the traditionally accepted Biblical understanding of Christian marriage, as a union between a man and a woman.

But if the BU makes the change as requested, it would essentially be changing its view on marriage. In 2014, it watered down its official position following introduction of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 by deciding to allow its ministers to conduct gay marriage ceremonies if they wished.

David Kerrigan, a former General Director of BMS World Mission, said there was a ‘pastoral crisis’ and compared the issue of sexuality with other theological questions such as slavery and women in leadership.

An event run by Evangelical Baptists for Marriage has been scheduled for September this year. It says: ‘We ask the Baptist Union of Great Britain and its council to hold to the traditional Biblical view that marriage is between a man and a woman, and that anything outside of this is unscriptural … We will explore what to do if the BUGB insists on resiling [rowing back] from the traditional view of marriage.’