After all the hubbub about the United Church of Christ‘s ad with a message of tolerance and acceptance, we have this bit of news from the American Baptist Church. (StarNewsOnline.com):

The 25 regional executives of the 1.5 million-member American Baptist Churches in the USA jointly announced that the denomination’s ongoing controversy over homosexuality ‘threatens to break us apart.’

A pastoral statement to ‘preserve unity,’ released this month after a meeting of denomination leaders, said they had personally agreed to ‘voluntarily refrain from’ naming sexually active gays and lesbians to national and regional positions. The church leaders also said they would not participate in same-sex marriage ceremonies, but pledged to shun ‘homophobic behavior.

Thanks to House Blend reader Fredda for the pointer.