ABC Progressive Reacts to Dr. Medley's "Call" Saying it Would Require Turning "My Back on Christ"

This month's Associational, the e-newsletter from the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists, departed from the usual format of that communication piece. This time, fifteen letters of response to Dr. Medley's "A Call for American Baptists to Live Lives of High Moral and Ethical Responsibility," dated July 17, were reprinted. Most of them were respectfully worded, logically argued, and passionate appeals to Dr. Medley to clarify or retract his perplexing (to them anyhow) statement on sexual integrity and denominational diversity.

Perhaps none of the responses, however, carry as much internal institutional weight as that penned by Dr. Allan Newton, ABC executive minister and host of the Rochester Summit process. Answering the question poised by many in the blogosphere, "Why now?," he surmises as follows:

My sense is that this is a response to pressure from the more conservative elements of our ABCUSA family. This letter came without any forewarning to Regional Executives which has been the established pattern of recent years. It is as much a surprise for me as it is for most of you. My intuition about the reason is confirmed by the quick and vocal delight being expressed by my more conservative brothers.

Dr. Newton leads one of the most progressive regions in the ABC. His efforts to advocate for the AWAB cause, shelter AWAB churches from less hospitable regions (e.g., Granville, Ohio, a congregation that recently called a lesbian pastor, Rev. Dr. Kathy Fuson Hurt who comes to Ohio with her partner Jean) and shepherd the Rochester Summit have been notable for their courage and staunch advocacy.

Dr. Newton fully identifies with the cause to such an extent as to personalize it: "This is the first time I find the line in the sand drawn in such a way that there is no room for me and so many like me. There have been many other pastors and denominational leaders who have been drawing lines of exclusion but this is the first time such words have come from the mouth of the General Secretary."

Lest anyone doubt the theological and ethical resolve by those on the left, hear carefully the words of Dr. Newton when he equates disaffirming the GLBT cause with turning his back on Christ!

"I have shared with Roy that I cannot honor his call. To honor this call would be to turn my back on Christ which is something I will not do for any person. In my early years of youth I experienced such a profound affirmation of me, "just as I am" with all my faults and sins, that I cannot be anything but affirming of my GLBT brothers and sisters; to all my sisters and brothers. Jesus convinced me at an early age that my charge and mission was to love and not judge. It became clear to me that it was not up to me to determine who is inside or outside of the family of God. That was God's work. My response to that is THANK GOD! God put me in charge of my life and not that of my sisters and brothers. It has been my understanding that as a Christian I am to follow Jesus and the example he has set for me has been one of radical love and radical inclusion. I confess, I did not come to this place I stand easily without strain and struggle. Nor did I join this path toward affirmation of my own volition. I had to be convinced and God has been very convincing."

Clearly the notion of "radical discipleship" articulated by Dr. Medley more than a year ago at the Denver biennial has been fused with notions of "radical love and radical inclusion" for the cause of GLBT persons. And, as AWAB continues reporting increases in their ranks as additional congregations affiliate with them, Dr. Medley will face enormous pressure from both the left and the right to clarify exactly what he meant by his July 17 "Call."

Is this what Medley means when he says, "radical discipleship"? And, if not, what does he intend to do about it?

[His Barking Dog finds plenty of raw meat in the trashcans out back of the ABC. However, please do not conclude that it was given to me by anyone official or that it reflects any kind of official position by anyone in Southern California.]