CBF leader says it's time to revisit ban on hiring gays

[Big Daddy Weaver]

Yes, the abstract of my paper mentions homosexuality. Who denies that the welcoming & affirming position of the Alliance has been a defining characteristic of that denomination?

CBF was officially chartered in May 1991. The impetus for the founding and the planning that led to that charter obviously pre-dated May 1991. Daniel Vestal's defeat at SBC in June 1990 was a significant event. Then there was the meeting of moderate leaders later in 1990 that directly led to the chartering of CBF in May 1991.

Most - if not all - of the CBF's founders were not involved in leadership positions in the Alliance. They set out to form a separate organization - again for many of the reasons I mentioned earlier.

It was not until later in mid-to-late 1992 that the Alliance even began to consider the issue of homosexuality. The spark for this "study committee" was the controversial decision of one North Carolina church (Binkley, I believe) to bless same-sex ceremonies.

[Ed Pettibone]

[Haruo]

[Big Daddy Weaver]

My paper certainly mentions the SOUTHERN BAPTIST ALLIANCE....just not in the abstract.

The Alliance in 1990 when the CBF founders convened did not "support homosexuality." I'm sure there were Alliance-affiliated churches like Jeff Street that were open (if not explicitly affirming) of homosexuals at the time.

There are CBF churches that are open (if not explicitly) affirming of homosexuals right now in 2012. Does that mean that the CBF "supports homosexuality"? No.

Again, there were obvious theological (and social/political) differences between Alliance members and the Baptist constituency that the CBF founders intended to serve. I just think that the issue of homosexuality was not a primary issue at the time.

If the CBF had been founded two years later, then yea, it would have been a significant issue. Those events at Binkley and Duke were significant in kickstarting the discussion among Alliance members in mid-1992. That''s after the birth of the CBF.

[Gene Scarborough]

Don't want to comment at this time except to say