The Baptist Collegiate Ministry (BCM) on the campus of Vanderbilt University has decided after all not to accept recognition as a campus group. At issue is Vanderbilt’s new policy requiring Christian groups to accept non-Christians as potential leaders in the BCM. The Baptist Press has the scoop with an explanation about the change from Randy C. Davis, executive director of the Tennessee Baptist Convention. Here’s the relevant portion from the report:
Davis wrote that he was originally supportive of the decision to seek recognized student organization status at Vanderbilt.
Davis noted that the Vanderbilt BCM applied as it has over the years and was accepted.
“However, on April 22, it came to my attention that the application included our representatives signing the revised non-discrimination policy,” he wrote. “It is our understanding now that ‘to abide by,’ means ‘to accept without objection’ and ‘to accept as our own.'”
Davis noted that signing onto the policy would require the BCM “if the occasion should ever arise, to open the leadership to those who were not Christian. Perhaps we should have known this earlier, but we did not,” he wrote.
Read the rest here.
One Comment
Daryl Little
Good for them. God bless them for such a wise decision.
I suspect that churches wishing to be faithful may need to take similar steps regarding their charitable status within my lifetime.