BU same-sex change?

The Baptist Union (BU) council is formally considering whether to amend its ministerial requirements to allow ministers to be in a same-sex marriage, and has set out the process to be followed.

The council has been known to be considering a change to the Ministerial Recognition Rules, following pressure from around 70 BU ministers, but it has now made clear in an open letter to BU ministers and churches that it is seeking ‘a way forward’ but ‘we must not rush ahead’. In her letter, BU General Secretary Lynn Green said marriage was one of two key themes that emerged from the BU Assembly in the Spring – and that the issue about marriage and accredited ministry was being ‘hotly debated’. She said: ‘We believe that any decision that is ultimately made must be prayerfully and carefully discerned.’

The BU’s stated position is that it affirms the traditionally accepted Biblical understanding of Christian marriage. Ian Thomas, pastor at Oldfield Free Church in Greenford, said: ‘We should not be held hostage to a militant (small) group when what is at stake is the gospel, which calls people to repentance from sin and towards God through Jesus. How can we call to repentance those who become married gay ministers preaching the very word that condemns them?’ No final decision is expected for some months yet.