Who would have thought that a proposed student group at Samford University could strain the 175-year partnership between the university and the Alabama Baptist State Convention (ABSC)?
Sadly that is where Alabama Baptists find themselves as Samford trustees ponder whether or not to approve a new campus student group called Samford Together. In the background is the warning of the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM) that to do so could have “serious implications” for the relationship between Samford and the convention.
The issue behind the debate is homosexuality and its related issues including gay “marriage” and gender identity.
But before swords are drawn and the battle joined, it is important to recognize that all the parties are on the same side concerning their view of homosexual activity. They oppose it. Furthermore, the parties also agree there is no place at Samford for any group to advocate for a homosexual lifestyle or homosexual activities.
Call to Prayer
A Call to Prayer shared with SBOM and sent to all Alabama Baptist pastors from ABSC President John Thweatt declared, “We also believe in the full authority of the Word of God and Alabama Baptists have been consistently clear in affirming the Bible’s clear teachings on matters related to gender, sexuality and marriage.”
Like most Baptists in the state, leaders believe the Bible condemns homosexual behavior and that no Bible passage tolerates or affirms it.
Samford President Andrew Westmoreland is on record saying, “I hold what I consider to be, along with perhaps the vast majority of Samford’s constituents, an understanding of biblical marriage as between a man and a woman.” He called that understanding “biblical truth” and “timeless biblical teaching regarding human sexuality.”
‘Desire to be faithful’
Westmoreland further declared, “From the depths of my soul I desire to be faithful to a just and loving God and to abide by the authority of Scripture.”
While the Samford trustees have not voted on this issue, it is unimaginable that the trustees — all of whom are Alabama Baptists — would not follow the lead of their president and support this traditional understanding of human sexuality.
In the Call to Prayer, Thweatt, speaking for convention leaders, urged Samford not to grant official sanction to any organization that would “question or oppose” traditional biblical teachings regarding sexuality, gender and marriage.
When Westmoreland met with officers of the state convention and SBOM, he assured them he would not allow any homosexual advocacy group to be approved or to operate on the Samford campus.
So if leaders of the state convention and Samford agree on what the Bible teaches about homosexuality and both affirm that homosexual advocacy has no place at Samford, what is the quarrel about?
It is about perception.
Samford understands the student organization as a discussion group to help equip participants to live in a world where they will face issues about homosexuality. Convention leaders see it as a homosexual advocacy group.
The Samford Together (ST) purpose statement as presented to the faculty said, in part, “Samford Together hopes to encourage students’ academic development, social consciousness, spiritual formation and relational clarity” by discussing topics relating to sexual orientation and gender identity.
Samford officials insist the organization is to foster conversation and dialogue which is appropriate in a university setting — even when the topics are controversial. Officials add the organization is “not to engage in theological and political advocacy.”
Westmoreland went a step further in meeting with convention officials. He promised to personally monitor the activities of ST if the student group is approved and to close the organization if it strayed into advocacy.
Making a decision
Westmoreland and others argue the university must make decisions on what is before it such as what is provided in official documents and not on fears of what something might morph into over time. In the meantime Samford officials say they are willing to bear witness to the truth of God’s Word concerning human sexuality and trust the Holy Spirit to apply it to hearts and minds.
Convention leaders contend the group is already an advocacy group no matter what the documents say. They point to the rainbow colors of the organizational logo, the fact that the student founder formerly worked for the Human Rights Campaign in Project One America.
Project One America is an $8.5 million campaign begun in 2014 which focuses on Alabama, Mississippi and Arkansas. Among its purposes is to build “safe and inclusive faith communities for LGBT” people.
‘Accepting environment’
Convention leaders point to terms like “accepting environment” — a term used in the ST purpose statement — and argue that means accepting conduct that contradicts biblical standards.
For convention leaders, the proposed student organization is nothing less than a wolf in sheep’s clothing. They point to what has happened in culture generally around homosexuality as well as what has happened in other Christian universities and conclude ST is the proverbial “camel’s nose under the tent.”
That is why the first official statement by convention leaders warned that Samford was considering recognizing a “student group that identifies with values contrary to biblical teachings on sexuality.”
There is much to commend regarding the convention’s perception even though it is mostly circumstantial.
Unfortunately the convention statement did not acknowledge the difference is about perception of the purpose of ST and not about commitment to what the Bible teaches about human sexuality.
Linked together for 175 years
Samford and Alabama Baptists have been inexorably linked to one another for 175 years and the need of each for the other is as real today as it has ever been. The leadership of both the university and the convention cooperate together as closely now as any time in the past.
Those charged with finding a way through this current discord are good and godly people. They are all brothers in Christ. None is an enemy. All Alabama Baptists will want to pray that God will guide them to resolve this difference in perception without creating a rift in the body of Christ known as Alabama Baptists.
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