Position Paper on West End Baptist Church and the SBC
During the last fifteen years, the Southern Baptist Convention has been taken over by a conservative/fundamentalist movement that has been increasingly characterized by an attitude of exclusion. The congregation of West End Baptist Church has for many years felt that our church and our Denomination have been moving along diverging courses. We recognize that by virtue of our affiliation with the SBC, we are viewed by many as supporting its causes, beliefs, and extremes.
The time has come to state who we are and where we may be different from what the Southern Baptist Convention has become.
Who Are We?
ü We subscribe to the Baptist Faith and Message as adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention May 9, 1963.
ü We support the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, the Baptist General Association of Virginia, and the Blackwater Baptist Association.
ü We are a “moderate" Baptist church. We seek to include rather than exclude and recognize that there is a broad range of beliefs among our members which are encompassed in the Baptist Faith and Message of 1963.
ü We prefer Southern Baptist literature but recognize that other sources of literature are available and will use them when appropriate.
ü Many of us continue to support the Lottie Moon and Annie Armstrong missions offerings; they are a part of our heritage. We also support the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship's World Missions Offering and the Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond.
ü We believe strongly in missions but have chosen as a Church to decrease financial support of the SBC, preferring instead to adopt other budgetary choices that have been suggested by the Baptist General Association of Virginia. At the same time, we agree that every member has the right to designate his gifts as he so chooses and will honor his choice when made.
Ø We reject amendments made to the Baptist Faith and Message since its adoption May 9, 1963.
Ø We reject the position taken by the Southern Baptist Convention with respect to women especially as regards their position in the Baptist Church.
Ø We reject the position taken by the Southern Baptist Convention with respect to homosexuals. Christ loved every person and was often in the company of sinners, and, while we do not agree with homosexuality, we have compassion for, love, and pray for them.
We remain prayerful that the SBC will one day again welcome the views of all Southern Baptists so that we can again feel comfortable as members of the convention without reservation.