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Was Pullen Memorial Baptist Church one of them? It's on Hillsborough St. in Raleigh next to the NCSU Chancellor's residence.

I went there one Sunday quite a few years ago, not knowing anything about the church except that it had "Baptist" in the name and I liked the Romanesque architecture, and came away quite perplexed. The preacher wore robes and a sash that had "Pax" written on it, and the sermon was based on the rich man and Lazarus, the message basically being a social commentary on the poor. (The church members were mostly upper middle class). Then they called me later in the week (I had filled out a card) and invited me to go on their spiritual obstacle course (a real obstacle course symbolizing something), and if I wanted to be baptized (I asked them where their baptismal pool was--it's in the basement), then I could write my own "ceremony". My husband (fiance at the time) said the service was "Catholic Lite", all the pomp and show with none of the substance.

A few years later I read where the congregation was going to vote on whether to perform a gay "union" ceremony. It was before this happened, or right around the time it happened that the church, as far as I know, voluntarily withdrew from the SBC. When it came time to vote on the gay wedding, the "ayes" had it, and I'm not surprised one bit. The pastor had often written liberal-leftie-touchy-feely-politically-correct diatribe editorials in the N & O.

It was before this happened, or right around the time it happened that the church, as far as I know, voluntarily withdrew from the SBC.

They left before they got the bad publicity from being kicked out of the association. If they were kicked out, it would be in the papers and people would generally be warned against considering attendance there. Given that you indicate that they bordered a college, publication of their expulsion would warn many parents who would keep their college kids from attending services there.

A fairly clever bunch of Bible-rejecting apostates, it seems.