In a another current thread on this site there is a link to an ABP article in which Colleen Burroughs calls for further discussion about the organizations response to homosexuals. In subsequent post discussing this idea there have been comments about UMC, the SBC and Catholics do or have reacted to this question. While what those other groups have is experienced may inform our future actions it my studied opinion that CBF and it partners need to be heard first and develop some consensus before discussion the practices of others .
It is true, as Tim Bonney points out that even I mention the ABC-USA. But Tim ascribes incorrect motives for my making room for ABC-USA but not the UMC , SBC, and Catholics in the discussion. My reason for including ABC-USA is that we in CBF and ABC-USA have close working relationships. For example, my wife has served as a regional representative on the CBF National coordinating council while serving as an ABC-USA pastor. Our ABC-USA church hosted the Baptist Fellowship of the Northeast for the spring meeting last Spring. At that meeting one of the BFNE present National Coordinating council members asked John Pierce who was our featured speaker about where he sees CBF going with this question. As I understood John's answer he sees need for a great deal of further discussion within CBF recognizing that it is a divisive issue that is not going away by ignoring it. Note, that is my summary which did not put in quotation marks. It is my understanding of what he said in about three minutes. And although John was born and raised in Georgia and has lived there most of his life he does not speak slowly, Also he was raised across the Street for Roy Medley who is the Secretary General of the ABC-USA. in other words ABC's top guiding official.
Also as I have reported on other occasions, being incorporated in Massachuts our regional CBF group, BFNE, is not permitted to use cooperative in our title because that term is limited by law to utilities and farm organizations. But indeed BFNE is CBF. BTW the church Trudy pastors is not dully aligned, Trudy and I are the only two who actively participate in CBF. We do have an ABC-USA church up the road that the pastor tells me is also a CBF church.