Southern Baptists narrowly reject ban on congregations with women pastors

Southern Baptists narrowly rejected a proposal Wednesday to enshrine ban on churches with female pastors in the denomination’s constitution after opponents argued it was unnecessary because the denomination already has a way to expel such churches.

The vote received the support of 61% of delegates, but failed to achieve the necessary two-thirds absolute majority. The move reversed a preliminary vote last year in favor of an official ban.

But it still comes out the Southern Baptist Convention with its official doctrinal statement saying that the office of pastor is limited to men. Even opponents of the ban said they were in favor of this doctrinal statement, but did not think it was necessary to reinforce it in the constitution.

Opponents noted that the SBC can already expel churches that claim women can serve as pastors — as it did last year and again Tuesday night.

The vote was perhaps the most anticipated of the annual meeting, reflecting years of debate in the largest Protestant denomination in the United States. It’s the final day of the SBC’s two-day annual meeting in Indianapolis.

Since 2000, the SBC’s non-binding statement of faith has declared that only men are qualified for the role of pastor. It is interpreted differently across the denomination, with some believing it does not apply to associate pastors as long as the senior pastor is male.

The proposed change, which received preliminary approval last year, would formally exclude churches that have women in any pastoral position, from lead pastor to associate, or even affirm them in that role. Supporters believe it is biblically necessary, estimating that hundreds of Southern Baptist churches have women in these roles.

The rejected amendment would have said that any church considered to be in “friendly cooperation” — the official term for SBC affiliation — must be one that “affirms, appoints, or employs only men as any type of pastor or elder as qualified by Scripture.”

Opponents argued that the convention already has the power to remove churches over this issue, and the change will have unintended consequences, including affecting Southern Black Baptist congregationswho tend to have women on their pastoral teams.

But the motion was quickly voted on after only a brief debate.

Ryan Fullerton, pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky, said the measure is “not intended to prevent women from exercising their gifts” in the church, in church staff roles such as “children’s ministers.” But he said the Bible is clear that the role of pastor is for men.

He said there is “confusion about gender” in the broader culture and cited what he called “the devastation of the LGBTQIA agenda.”

But Spence Shelton, pastor of Mercy Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, argued that was unnecessary.

He said there is no doubt that Southern Baptists are “complementary” as they describe the view that men and women have equal values ​​but different roles that complement each other.

But he noted that the convention voted to affirm the expulsion of a historic Virginia church on Tuesday and two other churches last year, including the California megachurch Saddleback, all of which have women pastors and said they could hold senior pastoral positions. level.

The reason for expelling them was that they do not have a faith and practice consistent with the Baptist Faith and Message, a document approved in 2000 that includes the statement that the pastoral position is reserved for men.

“Guys, we have shown that the mechanisms we currently have are sufficient to deal with this issue,” said Shelton.

Mike Law, pastor of Arlington Baptist Church in Virginia and author of the amendment, cited a report that there are about 1,800 women pastors working in the denomination. He cited biblical verses that limit the pastoral office to men.

“Our culture may consider this prohibition harsh, but our God is all-wise and wrote this word for the flourishing of men and women,” he said.

“This amendment is not about women in ministry,” Law added. “It is specifically about women in the pastoral office.” He did not explain the difference in his brief speech.

The denomination cannot tell its independent churches what to do or who to appoint as pastor. But they can tell which churches are in and which are out.

Last year, Southern Baptists refused to take back Saddleback, one of the convention’s largest congregations, and a small Kentucky church over the issue.

Both churches, which had women in top pastoral positions, appealed their dismissals to the 2023 annual meeting and were overwhelmingly rejected by delegates. A similar scenario played out in Indianapolis on Tuesday, when messengers voted overwhelmingly to expel the First Baptist Church of Alexandria, Virginia, which has a woman in an associate position and also stated that women can hold the top job.

Supporters of the change say it likely will not result in an immediate, large-scale purge, but opponents have expressed concern that it would burden SBC volunteers and staff with numerous investigations of churches.

Delegates also elected a North Carolina pastor and longtime denominational statesman to be the next chairman of their convention in a six-candidate race that featured two runoff votes.

Clint Pressley, who is senior pastor at Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Charlotte, will be the next president of the Southern Baptist Convention after winning 56% of the vote in the runoff.

The president of the SBC – one of the most prominent faces in the conservative network of evangelical churches – presides over the annual meeting and appoints members to the denomination’s committees.

Pressley’s closest opponent, Tennessee pastor Dan Spencer, received 44 percent of the vote after four other candidates were eliminated in earlier rounds.

Pressley said he is in favor of a measure that will be voted on Wednesday to amend the SBC constitution to prohibit churches with female pastors.

Pressley earned a master of divinity degree from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisiana, one of the official seminaries of the SBC. He has led Hickory Grove since 2011, after pastoring churches in Alabama and Mississippi. Pressley was first vice president of the SBC in 2014-15 and has served on several other denominational boards.

Messengers on Wednesday rejected a proposal to abolish the SBC’s public policy agency, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. The move reflected the view of some that the strongly conservative commission was not conservative enough.