pentecost Countless Baptist churches gather for worship on Pentecost, singing in a variety of different languages, swathing sanctuaries in red, and celebrating the coming of the Holy Spirit. At Wake Forest Baptist Church we also baptize one of our recent members on Pentecost.
This member is a retired religion professor in his early 70s. He comes intentionally to our church, seeking to be baptized by his two pastors, who are also both lesbians. This retired professor sees baptism as a cleansing, purifying, wa I understand that many moderate Baptists want to avoid the conversation altogether for fear of upsetting some of the “older generation.
Yet I return to our retired professor who wades in the chaotic waters of baptism with his two lesbian pastors. And he is not an anomaly in my nearly 12 years of ministry. I also think of a congregant from my former church who celebrated her 90th birthday on Pride Sunday in June 2009. After I preached about God’s love of LGBTQ persons from our Baptist pulpit, she approached me with tears in her eyes and said, “Thanks for the best birthday present any 90 year-old could ever ask for!” I think of all the people over 60 in my congregation and how they intentionally choose Wake Forest Baptist Church because we celebrate the Spirit of Pentecost by welcoming and affirming all people. shing and an immersion into the deep waters of chaos, out of which he cannot emerge the same.
The retired professor sees his lesbian pastors as symbolic of his calling to love and accept everyone as a child of God. He celebrates Pentecost not simply in worship, but also in practice. During the month of June there has been a considerable amount of news regarding Baptists and homosexuality. CBF and Mercer announced their Conference on Sexuality and Covenant. I commend CBF for beginning this discussion since they have received criticism for their anti-gay hiring policy. Also recently, AWAB, GetEqual and Believe OutLoud have petitioned the Southern Baptist Convention to apologize for their treatment of the LGBTQ community.
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