Aside from the considerations, already mentioned, of the impossibility of being a minister and choosing only to live by the parts of the bible that suit you, there are a number of very practical considerations involved. Mainly and foremost, most baptist ministers are married, i.e. To a member of the opposite sex. This is not a precondition, it is just that it is very difficult to be a pastor if you are not married. The other thing that tends to happen is that a young minister may start out unmarried, but because of the number of single females who are likely to be in his church, particularly when it has had time to percolate around the community that he is single, means he is unlikely to stay that way very long. I have seen it all before, several times! Hence if a Baptist minister decides to come out, and set up a homosexual relationship with someone, whether that minister is a man or woman (there are a few baptist women ministers, who are also usually married), it will normally involve breaking up a family, a brokenhearted spouse and devastated children). Bear in mind also, that Baptist churches often provide a tied house to their ministers. What are they to do in that situation, particularly as the Bible makes clear that God withdraws his Holy Spirit from those who wilfully break his laws, and therefore that person is no longer fit to be a minister? Are they supposed to kick the minister's innocent family out to fend for themselves and allow him/her to install the same sex parter in the Manse (minister's residence belonging to the church) in the place of the guiltless spouse? That would be totally impossible, surely. This happened with a Baptist minister I knew of in England. He decided to leave his wife and children for another man, leaving broken hearts behind him, both in his family and church. He and his partner left for London together. He told his friends he was going to set up an internet ministry for christian homosexuals, but has never been heard of since and they do not know what happened to him. The sadness caused by this extended far beyond his family and church to the whole district, and particularly amongst other Baptist ministers in the area, who had loved and respected him. The dust has now settled insofar as there is a new minister at his old church and his wife and family have found a new home in the area and still attend the church which he once pastored which, I am glad to say, supported them throughout. But for them the grief will be lifelong. There might be no problem with a minister who has homosexual feelings provided he/she is living a genuinely celibate lifestyle. After all there is nothing shameful about being single in itself. However, they should probably live alone and refrain from setting up close same sex friendships amongst their congregation if they wish their celibate state to be above suspicion. The difficulties inherent in this might prove insurmountable for such a person.
