Tags
American Anglican Council, Anglican Church of North America, Baptist, Boy Scouts of America, Episcopal, evangelical, Lutheran, Mark Tooley, Methodist, pentecostals, Presbyterian
(Photo Credit: Fox News)
The following letter was released earlier today and signed by IRD President Mark Tooley, which reads:
We strongly support the Boy Scouts of America current prohibition on open homosexuality and retaining it without revision. Nearly 70 percent of BSA troops are hosted by churches and religious institutions. Upholding traditional morality is vital for sustaining this partnership, for protecting Scout members, and for ensuring BSA has a strong future. A proposal from the BSA board to prohibit “discrimination” based on “sexual orientation or preference” for BSA members potentially would open the Scouts to a wide range of open sexual expressions. In our current culture, it is more important than ever for our churches to protect and provide moral nurture for young people and for the Scouts. We implore members of the upcoming BSA Council to affirm the BSA’s present policy, which the U.S. Supreme Court has affirmed, and which has served BSA well.
(Titles are for identification only.)
Randy Alcorn
Director of Eternal Perspective Ministries
Bishop David C. Anderson, Sr.
President, American Anglican Council
Sara L. Anderson
Executive Vice President
Bristol House, Ltd. (United Methodist)
The Rev. Canon Phil Ashey
Chief Operating & Development Officer
American Anglican Council
Dr. Robert D. Benne (Lutheran)
Jordan Trexler Professor Emeritus
and Research Associate
Religion and Philosophy, Roanoke College
David K. Bernard
General Superintendent
United Pentecostal Church International
Dr. Robert H. Blackburn
Past Chairman, National Association of Covenanting Congregations
The Rev. John Bradosky, Bishop
The North American Lutheran Church
Rev. Dr. Gemechis Desta Buba
Assistant to the Bishop for Missions,
North American Lutheran Church
Pastor Mark C. Chavez
General Secretary, North American Lutheran Church
Nancy Clark
Director of Mutual Faith Ministries
The Rev. Sue Cyre
Executive Director of Presbyterians for Faith, Family and Ministry (PFFM)
The Most Reverend Robert Duncan
Archbishop, The Anglican Church in North America
Dr. Anthony Esolen
Professor, Providence College
Dr. Jim Garlow
Senior Pastor; Chairman, Renewing American Leadership
Dr. Daniel N. Harmelink
Chair of the Board of Trustees
The Lutheran Bible Institute in California
Pastor Matthew Harrison
President, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
Doug Harvey
Executive Director, Disciple Heritage Fellowship
Rev. Charles Huckaby
Dean, Western Classis of the Calvin Synod Conference United Church of Christ Term 2010 – 2013
Clyde M. Hughes
Bishop/General Overseer, International Pentecostal Church of Christ
Bishop Harry R. Jackson
Presiding of the International Communion of Evangelical Churches.
Dr. Jeffrey Jeremiah
Stated Clerk, Evangelical Presbyterian Church
Bishop David Kendall, Bishop Matthew Thomas, Bishop David Roller
The Board of Bishops, The Free Methodist Church – USA
James M. Kushiner
Executive Director, The Fellowship of St. James
Dr. Richard Land
President
Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission
John Lomperis
Director, United Methodist Action
Alex McFarland
Director for Christian Worldview and Apologetics
Senator Patricia Miller
Executive Director, Confessing Movement (United Methodist)
R. Albert Mohler, Jr.
President, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Bob Morrison
Secretary, REVIVE! (Iowa United Methodist renewal)
Rev. Dr. Mary Holder Naegeli
Minister-at-Large, San Francisco Presbytery; Moderator of the Presbyterian Coalition
Thomas C. Oden
United Methodist theologian
Director, Center for Early African Christianity at Eastern University
Rev. William Owens Sr.
President, Coalition of African American Pastors
Dr. Eric Patterson
Dean, Robertson School of Government
Regent University
Dr. Bob Phillips
Senior Pastor, Encourager Church, Houston
Co-Founder, Kairos Journal
Leon J. Podles
President, Crossland Foundation
Dr. Steve Riggle
Senior Pastor; Grace Church, Houston
President, Grace International
Dr. Mark E. Roberts
Publisher, Word & Spirit Press (Pentecostal/Charismatic)
Rev. Kevin C. Rudolph
National Covenant Association of Churches
Windwood Presbyterian Church
Dr. Rick Scarborough
Founder and President, Vision America Action
The Rev. Dr. Frederick J. Schumacher
Executive Director, American Lutheran Publicity Bureau
Charles G. Scot
General Bishop of the Pentecostal Church of God
The Rev. W. Stevens Shipman
Director, Lutheran Coalition for Renewal
The Rev. Paul Stallsworth
President, Taskforce of United Methodists on Abortion and Sexuality
David M. Stanley
Director, Institute on Religion and Democracy
Chairman, United Methodist Action Steering Committee
Co-Chair, REVIVE! (Iowa United Methodist renewal)
John Stonestreet
Speaker and Author for Breakpoint and Summit Ministries
Bishop Ray Sutton
Ecumenical Officer, Anglican Church in North America
Eric Teetsel
Executive Director, Manhattan Declaration
Mark Tooley
President, Institute on Religion & Democracy
The Rev. Dr. David Wendel
Assistant to the Bishop for Ministry and Ecumenism
The North American Lutheran Church
Dr. Luder Whitlock
Interim President of Knox Theological Seminary.
Mark Williams
General Overseer, Church of God, Cleveland, Tennessee
Bishop Ronald Wilson
General Superintendent, Congregational Holiness Church
Dr. George O. Wood
General Superintendent, General Council of the Assemblies of God
[Update 5/22 at 2:21 pm]: Bishops David Kendall, Bishop Matthew Thomas, and Bishop David Roller have joined the above and Dr. Daniel N. Harmelink in affirming the above Boy Scouts of America’s current leadership policy.
