Bowling Green-The Kentucky Baptist Convention has withdrawn fellowship with Crescent Hill Baptist Church, following the Louisville congregation’s decision to ordain people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and to perform same-sex marriages.
Jason Crosby
Greg Faulls, vice chairman of the KBC’s Committee on Credentials, made the motion during the KBC’s Nov. 11 annual meeting in Bowling Green to disfellowship the church, saying he did so with sadness and brokenness of heart.
KBC leaders were alerted to Crescent Hill’s decision by a statement which appeared on the church’s website. The recommendation to cut ties with Crescent Hill was made only after a series of discussions between leaders of the KBC and Crescent Hill, Faulls said.
“To give approval to what the Bible clearly states is sin is not only an offense to the Scripture, it is an unloving act toward sinners, an act that leaves them in danger of God’s judgment,” said Faulls, pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Owensboro. “And we love sinners, including those who practice homosexuality, too much to allow them to live in danger of God’s judgment without even preaching the truth as is detailed in the Scripture.”
Prior to an overwhelming vote by messengers to withdraw fellowship, Crescent Hill’s pastor, Jason Crosby, appealed to KBC messengers not to cut ties with his church.
“We are a people at Crescent Hill Baptist who take the Bible seriously because we were taught to do so,” Crosby said. “We have studied and prayed over it. We are a people who take our Baptist history and its lessons seriously. And we also are a people who have seen our gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual Christians faithfully serving Christ and being in life-giving mutual relationships with one another.”
In an October news release, KBC Executive Director Paul Chitwood said, “We’re grieved by Crescent Hill’s departure from biblical teaching and Baptist beliefs.
“We’re thankful that Kentucky Baptists remain grounded in the Bible as our culture continues to rush headlong toward chaos with regard to human sexuality and gay marriage,” Chitwood added. “Our love for all people, including those who practice homosexuality, requires us to speak the truth about sin even when we are speaking it to one another,” Chitwood said.