A Concord church faces expulsion from the Cabarrus Baptist Association for baptizing two gay men.
The Rev. Steve Ayers of McGill Baptist said many in the congregation knew the couple from Kannapolis was gay when the baptism took place at the service March 16. He said the ceremony marking a believer's acceptance into the church -- and into a life devoted to Christ -- was held because it's not up to him or the church to decide who deserves salvation.
"I think salvation is between them and God," Ayers said Thursday. "I'm not going to exclude anybody from God's kingdom. Our business is to love and follow his (Jesus') example. That's all."
But the Rev. Randy Wadford, missions director for the association of 78 churches, said baptism is only for those who agree to repent of their sins, whatever the particular sin might be. "It's understood that when a person comes to know Jesus Christ as their personal savior," Wadford said, "a conversion experience occurs, and repentance takes place in the life of a person."
In a closed session Monday, Wadford said, the association will consider withdrawing McGill Baptist's membership. In a letter Wednesday to the church, the group said: "It (homosexuality) is a sinful lifestyle ... the Cabarrus Baptist Association must take a stand against any of our churches supporting or condoning this lifestyle. To allow individuals into the membership of a local church without evidence or testimony of true repentance (a turning away from the old way of living) is to condone the old lifestyle."
Organized in 1902, the 800-member church moved in November to Poplar Tent Road, a few miles from Concord Mills Mall. While differing from nearly every other Southern Baptist church on how, or if, to welcome homosexuals, McGill Baptist remains in the Southern Baptist Convention. It also belongs to the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, a more liberal alternative for Baptist churches.
McGill Baptist's possible expulsion is the latest example of homosexuality dividing the faith community. With no resolution in sight, many religious groups continue to debate whether to bless same-sex unions and allow homosexuals to serve as clergy and lay leaders.
The Cabarrus issue, though, raises another question: Should everyone be welcomed into the Christian faith through baptism? Or does a church have an obligation to baptize only those willing to confess the error of their old ways and break from the past?
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), for example, forbids noncelibate gays from serving as clergy or ordained lay leaders. But Presbyterian News Service Director Jerry Van Marter of Louisville, Ky., said the only requirement for adults to be baptized is that they profess a belief in Christ as lord and savior.
In keeping with the Southern Baptist hallmark of local church autonomy, preparation for baptism (typically by immersion) varies among the 42,700 churches. Convention Vice President William Merrell of Nashville said some pastors will baptize as soon a person make a profession of faith. Others will get to know a person first or invite them to a class to learn about the faith.
Merrell said churches have an obligation to feel confident that a person has repented of whatever they've done wrong before welcoming them into the church through baptism. "An unrepentant adulterer or homosexual or whatever is not ready for church membership," he said.
At McGill Baptist, Ayers said the two men feel badly about the trouble they've brought to the church. He said the men -- one in his 40s, the other in his 60s -- do not want to talk publicly about it.
However else they might differ from the 16.2 million other Southern Baptists, Ayers said, the men joined the church for the same reason many people do: "They said they found a place where they were accepted and where they could grow in Christ."