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365Gay.com
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NC
Baptist Church Facing Expulsion
Over Gay
Inclusion
From the
Web, November 12, 2007
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Charlotte, North Carolina -- A
Baptist church in Charlotte could find itself expelled from the North Carolina
Baptist Convention this week when the state organization holds its annual
convention.
Delegates will vote on whether to throw Myers Park Baptist Church out because of
its unconditional welcoming of gays and lesbians.
The state Baptist Convention voted last year to expel any church that voices
support for gays and lesbians. Churches are permitted to allow gays and
lesbians to become members but only after they have repented.
Myers Park Baptist has been a member of the Baptist State Convention since 1943
and has a congregation of nearly two-thousand people.
"We think the local church ought to be free to interpret Scripture itself ...
And we believe in the spirit of Christ, who allowed all to come to the table,"
the Rev. Stephen Shoemaker, Myers Park's senior minister told the Charlotte
Observer.
With more than 4,000 churches and 1.2 million members, the North Carolina
Baptist convention is the second-largest association of Baptist churches in the
nation.
Earlier this year give colleges and universities affiliated with the Baptist
State Convention left the convention saying the restrictive rules of the
denomination are preventing them from attracting the best students and faculty.
Campbell University, Chowan University, Gardner-Webb University, Mars Hill
College and Wingate University all balked at the convention's requirement they
not admit openly gay students.
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