So it has been quite a long time since my last post but somethings just have to be addressed. I do hesitate to write about this because I admittedly don't know all the facts. However, if what this article says is true about a church refusing to allow a couple to marry in their building because the couple is black then something must be done.
Now I said that I don't have all of the facts and one fact that I don't have is whether this is a Southern Baptist (Great Commission) church. However, they are listed on the Mississippi Baptist Convention website and the Executive Director of the Mississippi Baptist Convention, Rev. Jim Futral is quoted in the article as saying, "It's not reflective of the spirit of the Lord and Mississippi Baptists." So believing that this is a SBC church I would like to address this issue as a SBC church member and pastor.
This is one of those great occasions where the whole idea of autonomy of the local church has to be addressed. We as Southern Baptist cannot, nor should we, stand by and allow a church to so blatantly stand in the grips of the egregious sin of racism. The article states that the church is now "holding internal meetings to decide out how it should respond to future wedding requests by black couples." Well, that is just wonderful. Meanwhile, the Mississippi Baptist Convention and the Southern Baptist Convention should be holding their own meetings to rebuke this church, seek repentance and if that does not take place then to move to remove this church from SBC fellowship.
How can we as a convention who just loudly proclaimed to the world a new era in SBC life with the election of Fred Luter to being the first black president of our convention allow for such things to stand. Rev. Jim Frutal's words that this is not reflective of Baptist were surely right but I pray they there is some action behind those words. I pray that we as Southern Baptist will not hide behind the cloak of local autonomy to allow this church to go undisciplined.
