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Association of Welcoming & Affirming Baptists and ABConcerned to Reunite.
Oakland, CA - In November, a
letter was sent out to members and supporters announcing the reunion of American
Baptists Concerned and the Association of Welcoming & Affirming Baptists. We
call it a reunion because ABConcerned was the parent organization from which
AWAB arose. In 1991 at the Charleston, WV, biennial meeting of the American
Baptist Churches/USA, ABConcerned invited representative from congregations that
were inclusive to gather and talk about the need for a network of churches that
were willing to go on record as welcoming places for sexual minority Baptists.
Such networks were already in existence in other denominations and the time
seemed right for it to happen among Baptists.
People from around the country were welcomed into a local Episcopal church for
the meeting since no Baptist church in Charleston would open its doors for the
meeting. The people in attendance included ministers and lay people from
geographically diverse congregations from coast to coast. There was talk about
the reasons for the network, how the churches would relate to the group, who
would run the network, etc. The need for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
people to know where they are welcome was very important as was the need to
keep Baptist freedom in mind in organizational structure. Rev. Brenda Moulton,
was appointed interim coordinator and ABConcerned as the organization to start
the network.
In 1992 at the ABConcerned retreat in Racine, WI, the name for the new
organization was chosen: The Association of Welcoming & Affirming Baptists. The
name reflects the historic Baptist principle of association and expresses the
fact that these churches in the network are places where people are welcomed and
affirmed regardless of sexual orientation. Over the next year an interim council
lead AWAB under the guidance of ABConcerned. At the 1993 biennial meeting in San
Jose, CA, the first official meeting of AWAB was held. The initial member
churches were welcomed and AWAB opened its membership to individuals and
organizations publicly willing to go on record as affirming the inclusion of
LGBT people within Baptist churches and the ABC.
In 1993, AWAB became an independent organization focusing primarily on the needs
of congregations and ABConcerned’s ministry continued to focus on the support
and advocacy for individuals. Although independent, the overlap of both missions
found the organization working together in common causes often. This was
particularly evident at biennial gatherings. About three years ago, the AWAB
Council and the ABConcerned Steering Committee held our midwinter meetings
together. We met independently but had time to meet together as well. Out of
this first joint meeting, discussions were begun that brings us to this point of
this reunion.
In September 2002, three members of the ABConcerned Steering Committee joined
nine people on the AWAB Council. The following month, the new Council met for
the first time in Austin, TX. At the Council meeting, the ground work for the
reunion was worked out. Both organizations will remain independent but governed
by the Council until the reunion process is complete sometime before the
biennial meeting in Richmond, VA, in June 2003. After the reunion is complete
the name of The Association of Welcoming & Affirming Baptists will continue.
Although the name of ABConcerned will disappear on the national level, the
mission will continue. We are committed to continuing the long tradition of
support and advocacy on behalf of individual LGBT Baptists, their family and
friends. We will be working to partner with local ABConcerned chapters and
working to build new ones, particularly where no AWAB church exists. We are
committed to being an inclusive body made up of ethnically diverse people, both
woman and men, regardless of sexual orientation. We also want to assure those
who wish their membership to remain confidential, that such allowances will be
built into the new structure.
We are excited about this reunion. This is a bit of a homecoming for many of us
who have served on both the ABConcerned Steering Committee and the AWAB Council
over the years. We look forward to working with you and for you as we move into
the future. We welcome your thoughts and feedback on this reunion. We want to
know how we can better server you in the a new AWAB.
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