Baptist Church Nixes Family Photos Rather Than Include Gays

This is an interesting article in the Dallas Morning News. Given how dicey it is these days to be an LGBT-welcoming Baptist church, expect continued struggles such as the one Broadway Baptist Church faces. The church according to the article, was known to be inclusive of gays and moderate in its views (including women in leadership roles), but it hit a wall of tolerance when it planned to publish its church directory for its 125th anniversary with photos of members and their families

There was discord and disagreement as to how to treat its gay parishioners and their families, since all people would be identified in the publication. What did church members decide constituted a compromise?

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In a 294-182 vote, members approved a recommendation by the church's board of deacons to publish a directory that would include member photos in "candid, small and large group pictures" but not include family portraits.

The 125th anniversary pictorial directories "will identify the people in them by name and every effort will be made to include all members in the directory," the deacon board said in its recommendation.

The board said members recognize that there are differing opinions on what constitutes a family. The proposal, the board said, did not endanger the church's Baptist affiliations.

This is incredibly sad, as it brings to the fore the underlying homophobia and heteronormativity in Broadway Baptist Church. Rather than confront their feelings about what constitutes a family, for some members, the answer is to get rid of the pastor who called for honesty in reconciling their beliefs with LGBT members in their midst.

More after the jump, including what occurred when Barack Obama addressed yet another predominantly black crowd last week and forced them to face their homophobia.