Southern Baptists to vote on ban on women pastors at New Orleans meeting

Delegates to the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting in New Orleans are expected to vote Tuesday on a constitutional ban on women serving “as a pastor of any kind.”

The SBC’s executive committee agreed to advance the motion from the Rev. Mike Law Jr. of Arlington Baptist Church in Northern Virginia, but says it opposes the proposed amendment. The governing body said the church’s doctrinal statement — known as the “Baptist Faith and Message” — already establishes that prohibition.

“Our beliefs are most appropriately stated in our adopted statement of faith rather than in our constitution,” the committee said in a statement.

The 2000 version of the SBC message states: “While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.”

Mr. Law told The Washington Times in an email that the denomination “is in desperate need of clarity” about its beliefs and said he is “thankful” delegates have the opportunity to vote on the measure.

“This Amendment announces that our belief will be the basis of our behavior and cooperation as a Convention. We must believe what the Bible teaches, and put those beliefs into practice,” Mr. Law said.

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The issue flared up in February, when the executive committee expelled Saddleback Church — one of the denomination’s largest congregations — for having designated a woman as a “teaching pastor.” Fern Creek Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky, which has the Rev. Linda Barnes Popham as its lead pastor, also was expelled.

Both congregations are appealing their expulsions at the business session in New Orleans.

The Rev. Rick Warren, who founded Saddleback in 1980 and led the congregation until his retirement in 2022, is challenging the expulsion.

When Mr. Warren retired, the Rev. Andy Wood was named lead pastor at Saddleback. Mr. Wood’s wife, Stacie, was named a “teaching pastor,” triggering the Executive Committee action. Ms. Wood is described as a “pastor” on the Saddleback website, but her position is not stated.

In an open letter to SBC delegates, Mr. Warren said Baptists should affirm the “Baptist Faith and Message” as “a consensus of opinion” and “not a creed,” as they have for years.

“Your own family members often hold opposing opinions, but you don’t disown them for that,” Mr. Warren wrote. “You still love them in spite of disagreements.”

He cited a 2015 amendment to the SBC constitution that said churches are “in friendly cooperation” with the movement — the group’s term for church membership — only if they have “a faith and practice which closely identifies with the Convention’s adopted statement of faith.” The Saddleback founder said the move was “misguided.”

With 13.3 million members, the Southern Baptist Convention is the largest U.S. Protestant denomination. It has lost 3 million members since 2006 and 457,371 in 2022, the denomination reported in May.