Cobb Churches Cut Boy Scout Ties

Two of Cobb County's biggest and most influential churches will no longer be associated with the Boy Scouts of America.

The leaders of East Cobb's Johnson Ferry Baptist Church and Roswell Street Baptist Church in Marietta have been vocal in their opposition to a recent decision by the scouting organization to permit openly gay scouts.

Both churches belong to the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination in the United States, and which has formally declared that homosexuality is not "a valid lifestyle choice."

Rev. Bryant Wright, the senior pastor at Johnson Ferry, said in a video recorded last week and posted on the church website that the church will "discontinue our partnership with the Boy Scouts of America. It's a decision we are deeply grieved about."

Wright said Johnson Ferry cannot reconcile the decision by the Boy Scouts with "lifestyle choices that are outside of God's plan.

"As Bible-believing Christians, we cannot compromise God's word which has a call to all people -- young and old -- to live a life of sexual purity," Wright said in the video.

He said Johnson Ferry would make every effort to enable Eagle Scouts currently based at the church to complete their projects. "In the long term," Wright said, "we will look to alternative means to preserve the spirit of scouting without causing to compromise the spirit of God's word."

He explained that a gay scout would not be expelled from a Johnson Ferry scout troop just for being gay any more than "a young man struggling with alcohol abuse." But if that scout abusing alcohol has no desire to change then he would be expelled.

Likewise, if a gay scout is "unwilling to lead a life of sexual purity according to scripture, then he would be expelled," Wright said, adding that "the key is a willingness to repent or to change."

Comments on Sunday by the Rev. Ernest Easley, the Roswell Street senior pastor, have drawn national attention.

Easley received a standing ovation from the congregation as he announced that the church will no longer sponsor a scout troop because of the BSA's decision.

"I'd never dreamed that I'd be standing in front of a group preaching on Sunday, encouraging parents to pull kids out of Boy Scouts of America," Easley was quoted by Reuters as saying.

The same article indicated that the Southern Baptist Convention -- of which Johnson Ferry's Wright is a past president -- is expected to formally adopt a position opposing the Boy Scouts' decision soon.

Easley was criticized harshly by some in comments posted on Roswell Streeet's Facbeook page.

Some denominations, including the United Methodist Church, have said they will continue to be involved in scouting.

Reuters also reported that 70 percent of Boy Scout troops across the country are chartered by faith-based organizations.

Openly gay scout leaders are still banned by the Boy Scouts.

What do you think about the decisions by local churches to discontinue sponsorship of their Boy Scout troops? Tell us in the comments box below.