Southern Baptists oust St. Matthews church over LGBTQ inclusion
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Updated: 5:52 PM EST Feb 23, 2021
WLKY Digital Team
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Updated: 5:52 PM EST Feb 23, 2021
WLKY Digital Team
The Southern Baptist Convention’s executive committee voted Tuesday to oust four of its churches -- one of which is in St. Matthews.St. Matthews Baptist Church was one of two churches expelled over having policies deemed to be too inclusive of LGBTQ people."We take no pleasure in recommending that a church is not in friendly cooperation with the convention,” Credentials Committee Chairman Mike Lawson said in a statement to Baptist Press. “We would like nothing more than for all our churches to be in harmony on such vital issues. But when the available information shows clearly that we are not, it is necessary to take action.The St. Matthews church lost its affiliation with the Kentucky Baptist Convention in 2018 for making financial contributions to the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, which had recently lifted a ban on hiring LGBTQ employees.Back then, St. Matthews Baptist Church said it was "disheartened" by the decision. Dozens of other local churches were also cut off at that that time.The other church disfellowshipped Tuesday over LGBTQ inclusion was Towne View Baptist Church, in Kennesaw, Georgia.Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and an official with the Southern Baptist Convention, tweeted Tuesday that expelling the churches was "necessary and proper.""Anyone who argues that the Bible—OT and NT— is not clear about the sinfulness of homosexuality is either very confused or deliberately dishonest about the structure of biblical theology and the clear meaning of the texts," Mohler tweeted.The committee said both Towne View and St. Matthews have membership and leadership standards that “affirm homosexual behavior” and do not have a faith and practice that closely identify with the Baptist Faith and Message2000.Towne View’s pastor, the Rev. Jim Conrad, told The Associated Press last week that he would not appeal the ouster and plans to affiliate his church, at least temporarily, with The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, which lets churches set their own LGBTQ policies. Two more churches were voted out Tuesday for employing pastors convicted of sex offenses. WLKY has reached out to leaders with St. Matthews Baptist Church for comment, but no statements have been made Tuesday.The Associated Press contributed to this report.