Date: May 2, 2005
Location: First Baptist Church, Lawrence, KS
Host: Ministers Council of Central Region, and FBC
Facilitators: Paul Kondy
Participants: 120
Observations: Paul Kondy did a masterful job of facilitating our gathering, setting the tone from the very beginning as one of conciliation. We followed the general format of the other councils, the Lectio Divina reflection, the testimony time and the Invitation for Jerusalem Council Conversation. The Lectio Divina had a positive tone to it, the process of “please stop” was good, allowing folks to express concerns, insights, and even biases. But in general, the large turnout of attendees made it difficult to have much sense of intimate dialogue in the other activities. Certainly not everyone had a chance to speak, and even those who did, seemed more inclined to make statements about their biblical convictions than to hold conversation with one another, or to truly listen to other viewpoints. The tension between the biblical concepts of law and grace was very evident.
At the testimony time we divided into two groups to allow for more participation, but by doing so we missed what was said in the other group. While there was some testimonial sharing, the preponderance of what was shared seemed more a statement of beliefs than personal testimony. The majority expressed the view that homosexuals are sinners whose only recourse is to repent. There was very limited expression for the “welcoming the homosexual” position and minimal expression for the “affirming” position.