Religious group splits from Mercer University (AP/CNN) {Georgia Baptist Convention}

[eppur_se_muova]

ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- The Georgia Baptist Convention has formally ended its 170-year relationship with Mercer University, a relationship that had grown increasingly troubled over the convention's concerns that Mercer is more liberal than its Southern Baptist roots.

Convention members had voted last year to sever ties with the Macon, Georgia, institution. A second vote Tuesday finalized the split, which means Mercer must seek Baptist funding from individual churches rather than the convention.
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Convention members were disturbed last year by a National Coming Out Day program on campus -- called the Mercer Triangle Symposium -- sponsored by a gay student group and supported by faculty and staff.

"The waters had been troubled for some time over a number of issues, but that seemed to be the straw that broke the camel's back," said Wayne Robertson, chairman of the convention's administration committee and pastor at Morningside Baptist Church in Valdosta, Georgia.

Mercer President William D. Underwood said the college will continue a relationship with its founding denomination.
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more: http://www.cnn.com/2006/EDUCATION/11/15/baptist.ties.severed.ap/index.html

Adios, Conventioneers, it's been real.

Mercer has been "the other" large private university in Georgia forever. Maybe they are opening up a bit -- if they have a recognized gay student group on campus already, that's already a big improvement over Southern Baptists in general. More openness and tolerance can only help them as a University.

[MrScorpio]

1. Woo, Mercer allowed a gay group and Coming Out Day

Next they'll let the students use telephones

When will this blasphemy end?

[Reverend_Smitty]

2. Nothing like a little Christian compassion for your fellow man...

to cause a rift in the Georgia Baptist Convention...heaven forbid a University allow young people to accept diversity and allow a student population to be who they really are

[asjr]

3. Mercer obviously made the mistake

of wanting to educate the students. And I am told we are living in the 21st. century.

[kenny blankenship]

4. that's the thing about education: it's purpose is to lead people OUT of ignorance

e-duce: to lead out of.
You can see how this would eventually cause an insurmountable conflict.

[Charlie Brown]

5. I might as well take the opportunity to plug this book

R. Kirby Godsey was the President of Mercer who enraged the So. Baptist Conventon by critiquing fundamentalism and promoting tolerance and pragmatism.

http://www.amazon.com/When-We-Talk-About-God/dp/0881460192/sr=1-1/qid=1163789944/ref=sr_1_1/104-3582812-4155934?ie=UTF8&s=books

[varun]

6. I am a graduate of Mercer

and I am so glad. I was there in mid to late 90s, and was in the part time Engineering program. Never heard of a gay group on campus then.

Gives me hope! There is a G*D

[FernBell]

7. This is part of a much larger trend.

The radicals extremists in the Baptist conventions have spent years trying to purge their universities of anyone who disagrees with them. More and more, their efforts have failed and many historically Baptist schools have broken ties with the conventions as a result. The radicals are destroying their own power by alienating their own institutions. It's been happening for a long time and it looks like we'll see more universities breaking away in the future. Any time the radical right loses control over an institution, that can only be a good thing.