Roger Williams Fellowship

The board of directors of the Roger Williams Fellowship notes two recent pastoral letters written by the Rev. A. Roy Medley, General Secretary of the American Baptist Churches/USA. In these letters, Medley addresses two pressing issues on the front pages of newspapers: first, the ongoing discussion about homosexuality in the Church and second (and separately), Israeli military action against Hezbollah militants in the country of Lebanon.

Both letters are premised upon the call of the General Secretary to interpret and articulate responses to public issues, drawn from the policy base developed by the American Baptist Churches/USA and its General Board. Medley's addressing of these two issues undoubtedly has raised concerns for some American Baptists, as anytime there is an effort to speak on behalf of a free-church polity system, it is next to impossible to speak "ex cathedra." At best, Medley states policy base. At worst, people inside and outside of the denomination presume Rev. Medley speaks for each and every American Baptist, without right of dissent on the part of his constituents.

The Roger Williams Fellowship board is grateful that it is the polity of American Baptists that is our unifying force. It is not derived from an official policy base, an impervious hermeneutic, or partisan political machinations. American Baptists are a free church, Baptist freedom loving people. While the General Secretary's public comments may reflect perhaps majority opinion within denominational circles on some matters, these letters do not abridge the freedom of individual American Baptists, local congregations, or regional bodies to dissent and differ.

RWF Board of Directors