Beliefs about Homosexual Behavior and Ministering to Homosexual Persons
Resolution Passed by the Baptist General Conference in Annual Meeting Estes Park, Colorado
We the delegates to the 114th Annual Meeting of the Baptist
General Conference gathering in Estes Park, Colorado, June
22-28, 1992, endorse the following two-part resolution:
Part One
Our affirmation that the Bible is the infallible Word of God with "supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct," and our affirmation that "a Christian should live for the glory of God" include the following six beliefs about heterosexuality and homosexuality:
1. We believe that heterosexuality is God's revealed will for
humankind and that, since God is loving, a chaste and faithful
expression of this orientation (whether in singleness or in
marriage) is the ideal to which God calls all people.
2. We believe that a homosexual orientation is a result of the
fall of humanity into a sinful condition that pervades every
person. Whatever biological or familial roots of homosexuality may
be discovered, we do not believe that these would sanction or
excuse homosexual behavior, though they would deepen our compassion
and patience for those who are struggling to be free from sexual
temptations.
3. We believe there is hope for the person with a homosexual
orientation and that Jesus Christ offers a healing alternative in
which the power of sin is broken and the person is freed to know
and experience his or her true identity in Christ and in the
fellowship of his Church.
4. We believe that this freedom is attained through a process
which includes recognizing homosexual behavior as sin, renouncing
the practice of homosexual behavior, rediscovering healthy,
nonerotic friendships with people of the same sex, embracing a
moral sexual lifestyle, and in the age to come, rising from the
dead with a new body free from every sinful impulse. This process
parallels the similar process of sanctification needed in dealing
with heterosexual temptations as well. We believe that this freedom
comes through faith in Jesus Christ, by the power of his
Spirit.
5. We believe that all persons have been created in the image of
God and should be accorded human dignity. We believe therefore that
hateful, fearful, unconcerned harassment of persons with a
homosexual orientation should be repudiated. We believe that
respect for persons with a homosexual orientation involves honest,
reasoned, nonviolent sharing of facts concerning the immorality and
liability of homosexual behavior. On the other hand, endorsing
behavior which the Bible disapproves endangers persons and
dishonors God.
6. We believe that Christian churches should reach out in love
and truth to minister to people touched by homosexuality, and that
those who contend Biblically against their own sexual temptation
should be patiently assisted in their battle, not ostracized or
disdained. However, the more prominent a leadership role or
modelling role a person holds in a church or institution of the
Conference, the higher will be the expectations for God's ideal of
sexual obedience and wholeness. We affirm that both heterosexual
and homosexual persons should find help in the church to engage in
the Biblical battle against all improper sexual thoughts and
behaviors.
Part Two
We further endorse the following affirmation as an implication of the previous six beliefs.
Since beliefs about the sinfulness of homosexual behavior, like beliefs about the sinfulness of lying, stealing, murder, greed, etc., are an essential part of our commitment to the supreme authority of the Bible in all matters of faith and conduct,
and since a person who believes that lying, stealing, murder or greed are Biblically acceptable lifestyles would not and should not be deemed qualified to serve in the leadership of our Conference, or teach in its educational institutions, or serve as pastors of Baptist General Conference churches, or as principals or teachers of all church-sponsored schools, or as missionaries of the Baptist General Conference,
therefore we affirm that, in the same way, those who believe that homosexual behavior is a Biblically acceptable lifestyle are not qualified to serve in the leadership of the Conference, or to teach in its educational institutions, or to serve as pastors of Baptist General Conference Churches, or as principals or teachers of all church sponsored schools, or as missionaries of the Baptist General Conference.
We further affirm that this affirmation is simply an effort to make explicit the implicit religious consensus of the Baptist General Conference concerning the meaning of Article One (The Word of God) and Article Eight (Christian Conduct) of our Affirmation of Faith, adopted in 1951.