The conservative
Southern Baptists of Texas Convention has severed ties
with a Baytown church over its connections to a ministry
designed to appeal to gays and lesbians. The executive
board voted unanimously this month to "disaffiliate"
Faith Harbour after determining that it violated a
constitutional provision preventing churches from supporting
or endorsing homosexual behavior, spokesman Gary Ledbetter
said Thursday.
Pastor Randy Haney expressed frustration with
the convention's decision, saying he agrees that
homosexual behavior is sinful. "They were convinced I
was starting a gay church and setting up a woman as
pastor," Haney said Thursday. "I believe the Bible very
clearly teaches that homosexuality is wrong, but I
also believe the Bible teaches that we are to love
those who are homosexual and minister to them."
Ledbetter said the convention began
investigating the church after hearing that a Web site
linked with Faith Harbour contained "welcoming"
language toward gays. The credentials committee was
unable to resolve the matter in a December meeting with
Haney. "This is a destructive lifestyle, the Bible
describes it as sinful," Ledbetter said. "And we can
see anecdotes in our own society that it is not a
positive lifestyle for those that are in it."
Haney said he allowed a group called Eklektos to
conduct a meeting at Faith Harbour, a former bar that
is home to a nontraditional church of about 30
members. Haney, a high school geography teacher, moonlights
as pastor.
The Eklektos Web site describes it as a
community of Christians "especially called to welcome
and affirm people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, and
transgendered." Eklektos is a Greek word used
in the New Testament to mean chosen by Christ,
according to the site. The idea for the ministry came from
Wendy Bailey, an ordained minister and Presbyterian
Church (USA) denominational official who attends Faith Harbour.
Haney said the church's affiliation was removed
when he refused to disavow any association with
Bailey, who said Eklektos is not part of any
particular denomination. She said the group conducted
worship at Faith Harbour on December 22. "We're going
to continue to operate and do what we can do," she
said. "It really saddens me that the church that says
it wants to reach out to people is being the way they are
with Randy."
Churches within the convention are autonomous,
and the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention has no
authority over its members. But removing the
affiliation means that Faith Harbour may not send
delegates, called messengers, to the convention. The
Southern Baptists of Texas began in 1998 and has grown
to more than 1,700 affiliated churches. It affirms
biblical inerrancy, believes that only males may hold church
pastorates, and maintains strong ties to the Southern
Baptist Convention. Its rival, the moderate Baptist
General Convention of Texas, has grown increasingly
distant from the national denomination.
Ledbetter said Faith Harbour is the first church
the convention has removed from affiliation. (AP)