Maine Report on Jerusalem Council Process

6/15/2005

Report of the Maine Jerusalem Council

The Maine Council met June 4th with Richard Peterson and Kate Harvey.  There were approximately 35 ministers present.  The scheduled process was delayed for the first hour in a heated discussion regarding the commitment to confidentiality.  The council eventually voted to continue without that commitment.

After a presentation by Kate of the history leading up to these council sessions those present spent a period of time reading and responding to the Acts 15 account and seeking discernment of God's will for us in the midst of our differences.  With regard to the Scripture passage we came to recognize that this council did not resolve the issue and that even today Syrian Orthodox Christians and Jewish Christians do not generally sit at table together.

A sampling of expressions in the time of testimony follows:

• I believe there will be division as we live into the future; I pray that were not so, but...      
• Homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching. 
• We interpret gospel witness differently--we need to allow grace and the respect to differ
• We are all trying to be faithful...can there be unity without uniformity? 
• As American Baptists we came together as a means to an end but are now making   being together an end in itself...
• Can we do ministry together with these differences?
• As a gay man I find it hurtful to hear that I cannot be a Christian and a practicing homosexual...whatever that means.
• Am I loving someone by not opening them to the grace of God?  Do I deny     them access to that grace by accepting them just as they are? 
• I have found compromise at the local church level difficult to achieve; I think it will be even more difficult in the larger body.
• I have great fear of what this debate can do to us as I reflect on what I have heard from our Southern Baptist brothers and sisters.
• Where are we going from here; if we make this a defining/dividing issue—what will divide us next?  Inerrancy?  Women in ministry?  What next?

 Perhaps the most compelling witness came from the several who simply told their stories of relationship with gay men and women in their families and within the context of friendship.  These stories did not clarify matters but rather drew us together in the questions.

Following the time of reflection on Acts 15 and personal testimony we proceeded to address four key questions.

 

ADDENDA

As a result of the council gathering the Maine Minister’s Council Executive Committee is offering a workshop facilitated by Rev. Kenneth Parker for another look at Leviticus 18:22 with 20:13 and Romans 1:26-27.  The workshop will be held November 14-15 at China Lake Conference Center and will include a 3 hour session on Biblical Interpretation, a 3 hour session on the Old Testament passage and a 3 hour session on the New Testament passage.  The sessions will include a presentation by the facilitator, a period of individual reflection and a period of group discussion.  The sessions will be framed by an hour of worship as opening and closing.