When Wilshire Baptist Church was founded in 1951 in Dallas, Texas, the congregation could not have foreseen the monumental event that would ultimately severe their relationship with Baptist General Convention of Texas. In November 2016, Wilshire Baptist Church voted to fully affirm and include LGBTQ people into the life of the church.
Nineteen members of a study group, supported by pastor George Mason, prayed and processed for fourteen months before the congregation voted. The experience is recapped in a book by former associate pastor, Mark Wingfield, called Why Churches Need to Talk About Sexuality: Lessons Learned from Hard Conversations about Sex, Gender Identity and the Bible. While Wilshire initially lost 300 members who disagreed with the decision, the congregation quickly added 350 new members. Today, it remains a thriving, life-giving presence in the heart of Dallas.
Recently, George Mason retired after thirty years of shepherding Wilshire. But before he stepped down, Mason met with LGBTQ members at Wilshire to discuss what the church can do beyond a vote to foster a culture where sexual and gender minorities feel welcomed and involved. The result is a new Sunday School class called Shiloh that reaches out to LGBTQ parishioners and allies. The class is co-facilitated by Sally Gary, director of the non-profit CenterPeace and features a variety of guest teachers.
Wilshire’s new pastor, Timothy Peoples, now continues what George Mason started, creating a church where all people can grow in relationship with Christ and use their spiritual gifts to serve. Watch one of Pastor Timothy’s first sermons at Wilshire:
