“The issue of homosexuality is not going to trouble, at least in a divisive way, those who have a clear and very principled stand on the subject… But if you try to stand in some kind of middle, some kind of artificial neutrality in which you have a policy that isn’t so clearly established upon biblical authority, well you’re going to find that it is a target of continual renegotiation and calls for change.” –Al Mohler

An upcoming conference and hiring policy point to a potential paradigm shift on homosexuality for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. The conference is already making waves as the event draws near.

The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship is co-sponsoring what is being called “A [Baptist] Conference on Sexuality and Covenant” April 19-21 at the historic First Baptist Church Decatur, Ga. CBF is an association of Baptist churches organized nearly 20 years ago in protest of the Southern Baptist Convention’s return to orthodox theology.

David Gushee, a noted ethicist at Mercer University, is one of the conference’s chief organizers. Gushee stated that the changing face of sexual identity and practice across the American landscape is requiring the church to address its long-held positions on sexual relationships.

Said Gushee, in an Associated Baptist Press story, “We are trying to say that we believe many Baptists, Christians and churches have been avoiding a serious conversation about sexuality and what norms ought to govern the Christian expression of sexuality in our contemporary context. … We are trying to say that Baptist Christians need a context for ‘faithful listening’ in a quest to hear what God would say to us today about how disciples of Jesus Christ live in responsible sexuality.”

Co-sponsored by the Mercer Center for Theology and Public Life at Mercer University, the conference is being billed, according to Gushee, with five purposes:

— “responding to a pressing need in Baptist churches for resourcing churches and their leaders.”

— “providing information, narratives, resources and a model for dialogue in churches.”

— addressing “how the biblical moral norm of covenant fidelity applies in our confused and confusing contemporary context.”

— exploring “the most significant issues in contemporary sexual ethics, including but not limited to homosexuality.”

— “discovering whether the Baptist family (or any contemporary Christian group) is capable of respectful and meaningful engagement of diverse people and perspectives in a discussion of sexuality.”

According to an article in Associated Baptist Press, the need for the conference grew out of a 2010 CBF General Assembly breakout session on same-sex orientation. The high-volume attention of the workshop indicated to leaders that a broader discussion was needed.

Jennifer Knapp, a popular Christian music artist who made headlines in 2010 when she admitted to being a lesbian, is scheduled to perform the conference.

Gushee insists that the conference is not about politics or policymaking

The conference is not without its critics. Luke Smith, a pastor whose church partners with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, critiqued the conference as “misguided” in a recent ABP column.

Smith sees the conference as a veiled attempt to invite sexual immorality into official church policy by “merely expanding licit sexual intercourse beyond marriage. My concern is that this is a perversion of the scriptural witness to sexual intimacy.”

[Editor’s note: This article is incomplete. The source for this document was originally published on Baptist Press—however, the link (URL) to the original article is unavailable and has been removed.]