Alabama pastors react to North Carolina controversy

Alabama Baptist pastors interviewed by The Alabama Baptist disagree with how North Carolina pastor Chan Chandler used his pulpit in the recent church member expulsion story that attracted national news coverage.
   
The congregation of East Waynesville Baptist Church in North Carolina reportedly forced out nine long-term members who disagreed with the pastor’s political views. In a business meeting one week later, Chandler resigned after leading the church for less than three years. Some church members offered to leave with him, according to the Biblical Recorder, North Carolina’s state Baptist paper. 
   
Expelled members say the conflict began prior to the 2004 presidential election when 33-year-old Chandler delivered a sermon condemning those who might vote for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. 
   
In an audiotape of the sermon, the pastor said: “If you vote for John Kerry this year, you need to repent or resign. You have been holding back God’s church way too long. And I know I may get in trouble for saying that but just pour it on.”
   
Yet Chandler called the situation a misunderstanding and explained that his words reflected his deep convictions not a violent protest, reports say.
   
Andy Hepburn, pastor of Taylor Road Baptist Church, Montgomery, believes that members should only be dismissed on biblical grounds, and even then, the goal should be restoration.
   
“If an individual had the practice of a particular sin that we knew was biblical sin, then I do think that would be grounds for dismissal,” he said. “The key is doing it in a biblical way to be able to restore someone to a right relationship with the Lord or their congregation.”
   
Hepburn believes every Southern Baptist church has autonomy in these decisions, but leaders should focus on political issues instead of affiliations when leading their congregations.
   
“My personal conviction is that we should be involved in politics in a big way,” he said. “Christians should not be afraid to make a difference in the world especially with right and wrong issues and decisions that affect our nation as a whole.”
   
He added that to have a godly nation, we need godly individuals, but it has to be their choice.
   
“If we have individuals that seek God, we will have a nation that seeks God,” Hepburn explained. “But we can’t force that seeking upon anyone.”
   
Ray Jones, pastor of Ridgecrest Baptist Church, Dothan, said pastors should be careful about tying a person’s church membership to their political affiliations.
   
“Our first responsibility is to preach the strong Word of God and stand for biblical moral values,” he said. “A person’s church membership is predicated on their relationship with Christ, not on their political opinions.”
   
Instead, Jones said pastors should focus on their responsibility to biblical truth. “There may be, at times, overlap between moral issues and political positions, but that is issue-based, not personality based.”
   
Larry Wright, pastor of First Baptist Church, Florence, feels political-party lines are superficial, manmade ways to group people. He said pastors should not use these classifications to judge or discipline the people they are called to lead.
   
“According to the Bible, Christians are accountable to one another for their moral, ethical and Christ-like behavior, not for their political views and affiliation,” he said.
   
“Personally, I feel that preachers who use their pulpits for political reasons – promoting specific candidates and/or bashing others – have dishonored the calling and lowered themselves into a no-win situation. Politics is such a dirty business that sometimes it is difficult to tell who the good guys are, and many preachers have been embarrassed by being too closely associated with professional politicians.”
   
On the other hand, Wright feels it is the responsibility of the pastor as shepherd to take a bold stand on moral and ethical issues while steering clear of political involvement with specific candidates.
   
“It is the responsibility of a shepherd to encourage his members to be good and godly citizens, and that involves being responsible to vote in all elections and issues as well as being aware and informed about the moral and ethical implications of the issues at stake,” he said. 
   
Richard Trader, pastor of Twelfth Street Baptist Church, Gadsden, recalled that most Southern Baptists were Democrats prior to John F. Kennedy’s term as president.
   
“At that point in time, some Baptist pastors took a stand opposed to a Catholic being president of the United States,” he stated. “That established a precedent, and from that point forward, more and more pastors suggested who members should vote for. I think we’ve overlooked that.”
   
Billy Harris, pastor of Parker Memorial Baptist Church, Anniston, worries about the legal ramifications of campaigning in the pulpit.
   
“The IRS has indicated that a pastor cannot promote a particular candidate to protect the [church’s] tax-exempt status,” he said. 
   
He added that a pastor should concentrate on leading his entire congregation, not just the ones who votes as he does. “His job is to deal with principles of Scripture and then allow individuals to interpret those Scriptures for themselves and out of that make decisions on candidates.”
  
 Lance Hogan, pastor of First Baptist Church, Enterprise, also believes a pulpit is not a place to conduct a political campaign.
   
“The pulpit is a sacred place you stand upon and preach the biblical truth,” he said. “I do believe there is latitude for me to share some principles and foundational truths that would help lead someone to make moral and ethical decisions. In no way am I in a position to coerce or manipulate my congregation into making those choices.”
   
Instead, Hogan hopes to provide biblical truths for his church to make wise and conscious decisions. “I don’t feel it’s my right to make someone guilt them or turn them away from the faith to please me.”
   
First Baptist Church, Greenville, Pastor Tim Patton calls politics in church leadership a slippery slope.
   
“Christ commanded His church to make disciples, teaching those disciples everything that He has commanded us … political considerations were not part of His Commission,” he said. “Many times churches or para-church organizations that are strictly political in nature expend all their energy in political fights and do little to spread the gospel — the only sure way to change men’s hearts.”
   
He believes pastors should teach their members to participate in the political process but not promote one candidate over another.
   
“You cannot preach the whole council of Scripture without touching upon issues such as abortion, the biblical understanding of marriage and family, homosexuality, adultery, gambling, drinking, etc.,” he said. “Scriptural standing on such issues will always reflect a political point of view but when approached as the Bible’s teaching on these issues and not a political view, you have handled the Word of God appropriately.”
   
Southern Baptist ethics leader Richard Land said, “I believe it would never — never — be appropriate or acceptable for a local Baptist church to decide membership based on how a person votes.”