Chapter 1: Executive Summary

 

Introduction 

The purpose of the MR Rules Consultation was to get a snap-shot of what Churches, Ministers, Regional Minister, Council and Personal members, Colleges and Associations think about the question posed to BUGB about ministerial accreditation and same-sex marriage.
 
An external team was commissioned to carry out the Consultation, to analyse the responses and to summarise what they heard, what was said by the many who participated. This Consultation Research Team are all Christians from diverse backgrounds and different denominations. We are professionally independent. Our task has been to enable the Consultation and to analyse and synthesise the results, what we have heard. We have worked prayerfully in this task. Listening to you as you have participated in the Consultation over these months, has been a great privilege.
 
The MR Rules Consultation had three parts:

i)   An online survey for Churches, Colleges and Associations. 
ii)  An online survey for Ministers, Regional Ministers, Council and Personal members. 
iii) A Listening Space at the Baptist Assembly 2023.

Who took part in the surveys? 

The response rate to the surveys has been high, in some categories very high. A total of 1,868 ministers responded to the survey out of a possible 2,962 (a 63% response rate). A total of 93% of accredited ministers responded. All of the Regional Ministers responded. A total of 943 churches out of a possible 1,824 responded (a 52% response rate), with 4 Colleges and 11 Associations also responding. The high response rates indicate that this question is important to many. It is clear from the written responses that for many who responded being heard as part of the Consultation was important. This was also evident during the Baptist Assembly, as people engaged with the various ways of being listened to in the MR Rules Consultation Space.
 
There are also those ministers and churches who, for whatever reason, did not participate in the survey, the 48% of churches and the 37% of ministers. We do not know why they did not participate, there may be a variety of reasons. We also do not know what they would have said because we have not heard from them. Any assumption about what they might have said would be unsubstantiated with data.
 
Responses from churches show that many ministers and churches have made time to engage in conversations either as deaconate or leadership team or as meetings of the church. In addition, the survey reveals that ministers and churches had taken time through a variety of means, including Bible study, other reading, conversations and listening opportunities, to reflect on the questions.
 

Who took part in the Consultation Listening Space at the Assembly? 

259 people came into the Listening Space. We listened personally to between 80 and 100 people. Over 100 people engaged in other ways, for example, using the Art Space, writing a prayer card, contributing to the virtual word cloud. We also offered a Listening Space in the youth stream, 9 of the young people participated in the Youth Listening Space, in conversation, using art, creating a spoken word piece.
 

Survey Headlines 

Here are the headlines from the surveys, which are analysed and explored in greater detail in this Report.
 
From the churches who responded:

• 56% of churches said that an accredited minister could not be in a same-sex marriage.
• 8% said that accredited ministers could be in a same-sex marriage. 
• 36% of churches stated that they could not continue in covenant relationship with those who hold a different view. 
• 20% stated they could. 

From those who responded to the ministers’ survey:

• 57% said that an accredited minister could not be in a same-sex marriage.
• 25% believed accredited ministers could be in a same-sex marriage. 
• 44% of respondents believed they could stay in covenant relationship with accredited ministers who had a different view. 
• 27% said they could not. 

It is immediately striking that there is a wide difference of opinion amongst those who responded to the survey concerning same-sex marriage and accredited ministry. Analysing the hundreds of comments given in response to the survey questions it is clear that there are serious concerns held by many, sometimes fear, often sadness, about division within and potential separation from BUGB following the Council’s decision about the MR Rule, whichever decision it makes. These concerns, fears and sadness can be heard in some of the comments written in the surveys.
 

The people behind the views 

As you read through the Report it may, perhaps, be tempting to hear the loudest voices, the ‘yes’ and the ‘no’, those who are definite and sure. As a team we have been very struck by the number of neutral responses, sometimes as many as 40%. They have placed themselves somewhere in the middle of whatever options the question gave them. There will be a variety of reasons why ministers and churches have placed themselves in the middle, maybe some don’t know what to say, maybe some are still thinking things through, maybe some are trying to hold a middle space, maybe some are living with a diversity of views in their context. Interestingly, it has proved difficult to identify comments from those who have given a neutral answer, which means that there is often not a lot to say in the Report about why they have answered as they have. It is important to notice this silence as you read the Report.
 

The Baptist Assembly Consultation Listening Space 

The Consultation Assembly Team analysed and synthesised all that we heard from those who engaged in the Listening Space. We identified things that we heard again and again, drawing them together into broad themes. In this Report we have interwoven some of these with the results from the surveys. The full Report of this Listening Space is available in the Appendices.
 

MR Rules Consultation Themes 

At different points within the surveys there were opportunities for people to provide thoughts and comments. We have read and analysed all of these comments, taking time to identify recurring themes – what people were saying again and again. There are three main themes that emerged from the listening and analysis. We will introduce them here. They are expanded in more detail in the Report.

Approaches to the Bible
At the heart of these differences of view on accredited ministry and same-sex marriage is how the Bible is read and understood. Some people lamented that this seems to be an unreconcilable challenge. Questions were raised about whether it was possible to learn to value different approaches to the Bible. Many held strongly to their particular way of approaching the Bible, seeing the approaches of others perhaps as mistaken or sometimes as error, affecting faith and salvation.
 
Relationship with BUGB 
Because different ways of approaching the Bible leads to different views on matters relating to human sexuality and to the particular question about same-sex marriage and accredited ministry, it was often strongly felt that if BUGB made the decision to remove the bracketed section in the MR Rules, some churches and ministers would decide to leave BUGB. Notably, some respondents to the surveys equate removing the bracketed section with changing the definition of marriage, which in many cases seemed to lead to a greater determination to leave. Some spoke of a commitment to stay in BUGB whatever the decision, prioritising unity over their own views on these matters.
 
Baptist Identity and Unity 
The final theme to highlight is the importance of Baptist identity and unity, which came through most strongly in the ministers’ survey and at the Baptist Assembly, less so in the church survey. Two of the strongest elements emphasised were:

i)  The autonomy of the local church to discern and make decisions. 
ii)  The principle of being a movement, which is diverse and holds together in difference. 

A number of those who wrote comments in the survey mentioned the importance to them of the Declaration of Principle.
 
We will explore each of these themes in more detail in the Report.
 

Closing remarks as you begin to read the Report 

Behind every number is a person or people, who took seriously the invitation to participate in, and took care when, completing the survey. These questions matter to them, they very often told us why they mattered. It is clear from the comments that, although they may have different views and approaches, what we have heard from those who participated in the survey is an overriding and overwhelming commitment to Jesus, to the Bible and to their Baptist identity and a profound longing to do right.
 
We have also heard a high level of fear, hurt, sadness and disappointment and an almost complete absence of hope being manifest amongst many of those we heard from as they grapple with these questions and with the possible consequences of the Council’s response to the request. Will it lead to division, separation, schism? Or can a way be found to hold together despite strongly polarised views?