Report on the Jerusalem Council Process

                                                                                                               

 

Date: April 2, 2005

Location: The First Baptist Church of Weston, Massachusetts

Sponsoring Region: The Conference of Baptist Ministers in Massachusetts

 

Narrative of the Day:

There were 39 clergy present.  There was some discomfort with the lectio divina process. One person who was familiar with the process commented that it was not a good process for larger groups. The session in the afternoon went well. There was some diversity of views on homosexuality. Most people gave personal testimony, but some from both perspectives talked about a biblical basis for their views. Several of the people who were farthest apart were friends, so there was a sense of respect for each other as well as a willingness to state clearly their perspectives. One felt the struggle of some of the participants with this issue. There was one openly gay clergy-person present. Near the end of the session, one of the leaders commented that there was less energy in this session than in the others in which she had participated. This may have been because we were not as deeply divided as some of the other groups. At the end we talked about the possibility of a compromise, with which several were uncomfortable. One said that a compromise would not please either side. One said that he would withdraw from the Ministers Council if there was a compromise.  There was also talk of finding a better way of being together than the business model of hierarchy and voting on such divisive issues as homosexuality. It was suggested that we develop a dialogical/covenant model. One response to this was that people were tired of talking about this. It had not led to any answers.  But another person pointed out that the alternatives to talking are to ignore the issues we have or to split.