Keeping the Church Informed

This is the text of an insert in the bulletin of the First Baptist Church of Temple City, CA, March 12, 2006. I share it here so readers around the country get a sense of how things have been communicated with PSW churches and the process which churches here are following.

Special Meetings of the Church Body
First Baptist Church of Temple City

Two inter-related issues will be voted upon by the church membership at a special congregational meeting, Sunday March 26 at 9:30 AM.

The first is a series of small constitutional amendments to the church constitution to remove American Baptist-specific language from our constitution. With the possibility that our region (the American Baptist Churches of the Pacific Southwest) may separate from the national body (the American Baptist Churches USA), it was felt that this measure was needed as a protective act in the unlikely event that the national body were to decide to attempt some form of legal action to seize church property. This action is not the same as a decision to leave the ABCUSA; it is merely a protective measure should we choose that course. This also includes a new Scripture reference in our statement of faith (1 Corinthians 6:9-11) to clarify that we do not regard homosexuality an acceptable Christian lifestyle option.

The second is a vote to express the church’s discernment in the matter of the recommendation of the Board of the American Baptist Churches of the Pacific Southwest that the ABCPSW withdraw from the covenant of relationships with the American Baptist Churches, USA. We have been allotted 12 delegates to a special meeting for that purpose to be held at the First Baptist Church of Pomona on April 29, 2006. How our delegates vote will be determined by the proportion of the vote cast at by the church members voting at the meeting Sunday, March 26 at 9:30 AM.

Preceding the March 26 vote will be an informational meeting on the evening of Sunday, March 19 at 6 PM. That will be the place to discuss the issues and ask the questions. We do not want to disrupt the spirit of worship on March 26; therefore, the only questions being answered at that time will be strictly procedural. Any and all questions will be addressed at the informational meeting on the prior Sunday evening, March 19.

Please prayerfully seek God on these matters, and above all, “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.”

Dr. Glenn Layne, Senior Pastor
Mr. Alex Vago, Church Moderator