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The History
In May of
1972, American Baptist gay and lesbian people became both vocal and visible for the first
time at the national American Baptist convention in Denver, Colorado. American Baptists
Concerned grew out of these first efforts toward recognition. ABConcerned
continued its worked at consciousness-raising, acquainting both lay persons and ABC church
professionals with the fact that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people
were within the
church and that the issue was one which the church needed to face.
American Baptists Concerned for Sexual Minorities
was the first organization providing support, education and
advocacy for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Baptists. It began as
grassroots movement lead by a small group of people that
dedicated themselves to the cause of justice and what God
called them to do. They gathered information, produced
literature, wrote articles, met with leaders, pastors and
many people within and outside the Baptist family. They
attended American Baptist conventions/biennials and often
found themselves under attack. They put up make shift tables
to display educational information and worked hard to find
ways to dialogue with those who might feel differently and
to find ways to outreach and support those LGBT people in
ministry and within churches.
During the mid and late 1980's ABConcerned had local
affiliated groups In the San Francisco Bay Area,
Massachusetts, Rhode Island and the Rochester, NY, areas.
Some of these groups continue today.
ABConcerned published
a print publication called Voice of the Turtle, which
was widely read. It published for nearly 20 years and
occasionally continues as an online version. The motto of
VOT, "Behold: the turtle only makes progress when it sticks
its neck out", was appropriate because many people who
joined or publically supported ABConcerned were subjected to
retribution for their support.
In 1991, members of
American Baptists Concerned and representatives of some fifty churches met in Charleston,
West Virginia, to begin formation of a network of Baptist congregations inclusive of
sexual minorities. In 1993, American Baptists Concerned established the Association of
Welcoming & Affirming Baptists. A short time later, AWAB became an
independent body. By the end of the millennium AWAB had 40 churches in
membership from coast to coast. Today AWAB is 76 churches strong.
ABConcerned and AWAB reunited in June 2003 under the
AWAB banner. AWAB
continue to carry on the ministry and work of both organizations. We should
all be grateful to those early ABConcerned pioneers like Rodger Harrison,
Louise Rose, Rick Mixon and Barbra MacNair who helped show us the way.
AWAB History
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