Following the recent vote to lift the ban on open homosexual members in the Boy Scouts of America, a number of churches across the country have announced that they will be cutting ties with the organization.

Reports state that the majority of entities that charter with the Boy Scouts are either faith-based organizations or churches.  However, some churches have now decided not to allow the Scouts to use their facilities any more as the organization no longer represents their moral values.

Pastor Mike Shaw of the First Baptist Church of Pelham, Alabama is among those ending his alliance with the Scouts. He recently explained that his church could not in good conscience support the acceptance of sinful behavior.

“We don’t hate anybody,” Shaw told reporters. “We’re not doing it out of hatred. The teachings of the Scripture are very clear on this. We’re doing it because it violates the clear teaching of Scripture.”

Pastor Tim Hester of Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky met with his board of elders recently, which likewise decided not to renew its charter with the Boy Scouts.

“Truly for us it’s a logical decision,” he said. “We cannot be distracted from the mission God has called us to.”

Hester noted, however, that the charter would be discontinued regardless of the results of the vote, but did not elaborate.

Pastor Ernest Easley of Roswell Street Baptist Church in Marietta, Georgia said that his church would no longer support the Scouts either.

“It is extremely sad,” he stated. “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.”

“If we’re a church that affirms God’s word as the inerrant word of God that we’re going to live by, that we’re going to raise our families by, that we’re going to do church by, then it may be sad, but it’s a simple decision,” Easley continued. “We are not going to put our arms around organizations that openly oppose the moral guidelines taught in God’s word.”

The Southern Baptist Convention plans to vote next month on a resolution in regard to the Scouting policy, which may result in additional churches distancing themselves from the organization.

“Baptists have stayed where they should and Scouts have left us,” Frank Page, president of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee and a former scout, told reporters. “We believe there is an objective right and an objective wrong.”

As previously reported, a number of Christian organizations are predicting a mass exodus from the Boy Scouts of America following last month’s decision.

“I think what we’re going to see in the next year or so is a mass exodus of adults and boys from the Boy Scouts of America program,” said Randy Sharp of the American Family Association. “Some of the estimates that I’ve heard are up to 400,000 to 500,000 boys and adults will resign their positions with the Boy Scouts of America.”

“We believe that the BSA policy change will lead to a mass exodus from the Boy Scout program,” agreed the Assemblies of God headquarters. “Assemblies of God and many other churches can no longer support groups that are part of an organization allowing members who are openly homosexual.”

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