Within the Agenda of the Senate 2004 an amendment proposal was offered under the process of Article 13 of the Bylaws of the Minister Council. The document in its entirety was developed by the Pacific Southwest Ministers Council and had been electronically distributed prior to the meeting of the Senate. The requisite number of signatures from the Senate were received to present this amendment for vote in 2005.

The Ministers Council, American Baptist Churches
Proposed Amendment to Bylaws

The following is a proposed amendment to the Bylaws of the Ministers Council of the American Baptist Churches in the U. S. A. to Article VIII. The proposed bylaw would be a new Section 3, causing the present Sections 3 and 4 to become Sections 4 and 5 respectively,

Proposed Section 3

1. Senators will be clergy in good standing in the American Baptist Churches who uphold the Covenant and Code of Ethics for ministerial Leaders of the American Baptist Churches, and maintain sexual integrity consistent with the teaching of Scripture that sexual intimacy is to be experienced between a man and a woman committed to each other in marriage and with the policy of the American Baptist Churches in the U. S. A. that "the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.
2. The Executive Committee of the Ministers Council shall ensure that Senators meet the qualifications of this article.

Included with the proposal is the following rationale of the amendment:

We are submitting the following proposal for an amendment to the bylaws of the Ministers Council of the American Baptist Churches in the U. S. A. in recognition of the authority of the Bible and in order to bring the practice of the Ministers Council into greater harmony with the policy of the American Baptist Churches in the U. S. A. The rationale for this amendment is as follows:

1) As American Baptists we are committed to the authority of Scripture. We Are American Baptists: an Expression of Christian Faith Representative of American Baptists, approved by the General Board in June, 1998, and affirmed by cooperating churches in the ABCUSA (Standing Rule 5.1.1, states:

American Baptists believe that the Bible, composed of the Old and New Testaments, is the divinely inspired Word of God, the final written authority and trustworthy for faith and practice. It is to be interpreted responsibly under the guidance of the Holy Spirit within the community of faith.

2) The Scriptures teach that God’s gracious creation intent is for sexual intimacy to be experienced between a man and a woman committed to each other in marriage, and that the Church should minister compassionately and lovingly to all sexually broken people, pointing to the availability of God’s grace and healing to all who turn to God in faith and repentance.

3) The American Baptist Churches in the U. S. A. has adopted a Resolution on Homosexuality, which states, "The practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching."

4) The General Secretary of the American Baptist Churches, Rev. A. Roy Medley, answering charges that American Baptists favor homosexual marriages, cited the Resolution on Homosexuality, as well as the policy statement on Family Life adopted in 1984, which states "We affirm that God intends marriage to be a monogamous, life-long, one flesh union of a woman and a man…" These statements, expressing the convictions of the great majority of American Baptists, should find expression in the policies of American Baptist representative bodies such as the Senate of the Ministers Council.

5) Those who are called to positions of leadership in the body of Christ should affirm and exemplify the teaching of the Word of God and strive to unify American Baptists as people centered in Christ, the Great Commission, the Great Commandment, and the vision to which God has called us.