The Rev. Dr. Ellin Jimmerson was the first Southern Baptist minister to marry same-sex couples in Alabama - and will likely be the last.

In the wake of the national attention focused on her statement about why she agreed to perform the weddings, which began on Monday, Feb. 9, 2015, Alabama Southern Baptist leaders have issued statements that effectively call for a disassociation between the Southern Baptist Convention and the Huntsville, Ala., Baptist congregation where Jimmerson was ordained and is a member. Southern Baptist churches are affiliated with local associations connected with the SBC; there is no direct membership for any congregation in the SBC, but the move is in line with national SBC teachings on marriage.

Jimmerson, who holds a master's in theology and a doctorate in history, was ordained as a minister to the community at Weatherly Heights Baptist Church several years ago, but she is not a staff minister for the congregation. The distinction between being on staff and being overseen by the ordaining church didn't blunt the focus of the message from the state Southern Baptist Convention leaders.

"[A]ny church that allows staff members to officiate at same-sex ceremonies is clearly outside biblical teachings about marriage and human sexuality, and they demonstrate that they are not in like-minded fellowship or friendly cooperation with Alabama Baptists and Southern Baptists," said Rick Lance, executive director of the Alabama Board of Missions, and Pastor Travis Coleman, president of the Alabama Baptist State Convention, in a joint statement issued Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2015.

Contacted Friday, Jimmerson declined to comment about the Southern Baptist-Weatherly affiliation issue.

Baptist freedom

The Rev. Dr. David Freeman, senior pastor of Weatherly Heights, has long been clear about his endorsement of same-sex marriages, as long as they are held to the same standards of monogamy and maturity that different-sex marriages are. In a Sept. 29, 2013, sermon posted on Weatherly's website, Freeman outlines his position based on Bible texts. It's a position he reiterated in a statement to The Huntsville Times and AL.com on Friday.

"While I respect the struggle many Alabamians have with the decisions of the federal courts, I believe the decision to permit same sex couples to marry is right. It is just. It does not conflict with any teaching of Jesus," Freeman said. "It does not conflict with other teachings of the Bible, which, in my opinion, do not address adult, loving, monogamous same sex relationships. The church has been wrong on some big issues. It was wrong about slavery. It was wrong about the role of women in the church. I believe this is another case where the church has been wrong on a big issue."

Freeman stresses that on this issue, he speaks for himself and not for his congregation. It's an exercise of the autonomy and responsibility of the "priesthood of all believers" that lies at the core of Baptist teachings, he said.

"In the Baptist tradition, no one has the right to speak on behalf of another Baptist," Freeman said.

But that also means that, while the Weatherly Heights congregation understands Freeman's position, he has also agreed with his congregational leaders that no same-sex marriages will be performed on the church's property, he said in his message in this week's church newsletter.

Freeman said that Weatherly leaders and representatives of the Madison Baptist Association, the network of the 90 Southern Baptist Congregations in Madison County, will be meeting in the next week. Congregations can be voted into or out of the association by the executive committee of the Association, which includes representatives of each congregation. There is no meeting scheduled at this time between the full executive committee and Weatherly's leadership. The Madison Baptist Association works together for training, missions, service and fellowship.

Weatherly Heights is also affiliated with another national network of Baptists, the less-conservative Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.

Baptist limits

Charlie Howell, the director of missions for the Madison Baptist Association, said it would be inappropriate for him to speculate on what will come out of next week's meeting, but he was clear about the position of the local association, and of state and the national Southern Baptist teachings: Homosexuality is a sin, and changing the definition of marriage chips at the foundation of the model created in Eden for the human family.

"We're Baptists, so that means that each church is autonomous. There's a lot of freedom there, but that doesn't mean anything goes," Howell said Friday. "Our churches agree to cooperate and to serve together in unity, so this is not pleasant, what we're dealing with here."

"We're not going to back off the truth," Howell said. "The truth has got to prevail. And this is not just about one woman or one preacher. This teaching runs pretty deep down there (at Weatherly)."

"As Baptists, there are some things we disagree on, but there are some fundamental basics that we all adhere to, and this is one," Howell said. "Marriage comes from God. He established it. So this is something that is monumental."

NOTE: Correction inserted, above, with information received Monday, Feb. 16, 2015, from Charlie Howell: The meeting planned for this week between leaders at Weatherly and the Madison Baptist Association does not yet involve the full Executive Committee.

For more: See a story about this issue in the Baptist Press.

A video of the complete wedding service was posted by Left in Alabama --