AMERICAN BAPTIST ASSOCIATION

Homosexuality and religion

American Baptist Association
and the inclusion of homosexuals

A group of churches of the Southern Baptist Convention split from the main body in 1905 and formed the General Association which later became the American Baptist Association (ABA) in 1924. Their disagreement was over the issue of Landmarkism. The ABA churches believed that:

	Baptisms outside the Baptist churches were invalid.
	Non-Baptists should not be allowed to participate in the Lord's Supper.
	Non-Baptist ministers should not be allowed to preach in a Baptist church.
	Mission groups not sponsored by a local church should not be recognized.

Their beliefs and practices are otherwise similar to those of the Southern Baptist Convention. Their head office and publishing house are located at Texarkana, TX. They publish a periodical, the Missionary Baptist Searchlight. They currently have approximately 300,000 members in just under 2,000 churches.

horizontal rule

The ABA currently have beliefs similar to that of most other conservative Christian churches. Gays and lesbians in committed relationships or otherwise sexually active are denied membership or ordination within the denomination. Their interpretation of the six "clobber passages" in the Bible leads to their belief that same-gender sexual activity is incompatible with Christianity.