Southern Baptists poised to enact ban on churches with women pastors

• A proposed constitutional amendment to the Southern Baptist Convention aims to ban churches from having female pastors.
• The amendment came after a controversy sparked by a Virginia pastor who challenged the affiliation of several churches.
• A vote on the proposed ban is scheduled to take place next week at the SBC’s annual meeting in Indianapolis.

From its soaring white steeple and red brick façade to its Sunday services filled with inspiring hymns and evangelistic sermons, First Baptist Church of Alexandria, Virginia, has many classic Southern Baptist characteristics.

On a recent Sunday, Kim Eskridge, the church’s women and children’s pastor, urged members to invite friends and neighbors to an upcoming Vacation Bible School class, a regular Baptist event that she said will help “reach families in our community with the gospel.”

But First Baptist Church’s longevity in the Southern Baptist Convention may be limited because its pastor is a woman.

Southern Baptist Church expels female pastor and two others for violating sex abuse policy

At the SBC’s annual conference in Indianapolis on June 11-12, delegates will vote on whether to amend the denomination’s constitution to effectively ban churches from having female pastors, including not only the highest-ranking positions. The measure won overwhelming support in a primary vote last year.

Leaders of First Baptist, which has donated millions of dollars to Southern Baptist causes and has been involved with the convention since its founding in the 19th century, are preparing for the possibility of being ousted.

“We are saddened by the direction the SBC has taken,” the church said in a statement.

And you’re not alone.

By some estimates, the proposed ban could affect hundreds of churches and disproportionately affect majority-black churches.

Southern Baptists to vote to formally ban women from pastoral ministry: ‘Clarification is desperately needed’

The vote can be seen as the culmination of a series of events that began two years ago.

At the time, a Virginia pastor contacted SBC officials, alleging that First Baptist and four nearby churches were “not adhering” to the denomination’s teaching that only men can serve as pastors. The SBC Certifications Committee launched a formal investigation in April.

Southern Baptists are divided over which ministry this doctrine applies to, with some saying it refers only to the senior pastor and others saying anyone who preaches and exercises spiritual authority is a pastor.

And Baptists have a tradition of respecting the autonomy of local churches, so critics say constitutional provisions should not be based on interpretations of non-binding doctrinal statements.

By one estimate, several hundred SBC churches have female pastors, but that’s only a tiny fraction of the denomination’s roughly 47,000 churches overall.

But critics say the proposed changes would further narrow the reach and outlook of the country’s largest Protestant denomination, which has moved steadily to the right in recent decades.

They also think the SBC could do more.

The church has struggled to address sexual abuse allegations within its own congregation, and a former professor at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Texas was indicted in May on charges of falsifying records about student sexual abuse allegations in an effort to obstruct a federal investigation into sexual misconduct at the conference.

The SBC’s membership has fallen below 13 million, the lowest level in nearly half a century, and baptism rates have been in a long-term decline.

The amendment, if passed, would not immediately result in a purge, but it could keep denominational leaders busy for years investigating and expelling churches.

California church steps up to support female pastors after expulsion from Southern Baptist Convention

Many predominantly black churches have men as senior pastors but allow women to hold the title of pastor in other areas, such as worship and children’s ministry.

“Expelling like-minded churches based on the governing decision of a local church is an affront to the spirit of cooperation and the guiding tenets of our denomination,” the Rev. Gregory Perkins, president of the National African-American Association of Southern Baptist Churches (SBC), wrote to denominational officials.

The dispute further complicates the predominantly white denomination’s already fragile efforts to overcome the legacy of slavery and segregation and diversify.

Supporters of the amendment say the synod needs to strengthen its doctrinal statement, “Baptist Faith and Message,” which says the pastorate is “limited to men who are Scripturally qualified.”

“If we’re not faithful to the Bible on this issue, we’re not faithful to anything,” said Mike Rowe, pastor of Arlington Baptist Church in Virginia and sponsor of the amendment.

Because Baptist churches are independent, the convention cannot tell churches what to do or who to appoint as pastors.

But the conference can decide which churches will and won’t participate, and even without a formal amendment, the conference executive committee has begun telling churches with female pastors that they won’t participate, including one of the conference’s largest, Saddleback Church in California.

When Saddleback and a small church in Kentucky challenged the 2023 Annual Conference, delegates overwhelmingly refused to accept them.

The amendment will give further force to such enforcement measures.

In the past year, churches with female pastors have also resigned voluntarily, ranging from megachurch Elevation Church in North Carolina to First Baptist Church in Richmond, Virginia, which has had close ties to the SBC since the convention’s founding.

Law argued that the issue was a “canary in the coal mine” for liberal denominations, some of which have begun ordaining women and, later, LGBTQ+ people to the priesthood.

“Southern Baptists are facing a defining moment,” he said in a video on the pro-amendment website. “If nothing is done, Southern Baptists will soon begin openly supporting gay clergy, same-sex marriage and ultimately gender reassignment.”

Some point out that Pentecostals and other denominations have had women pastors for generations and remain theologically conservative.

Some SBC churches with female pastors are deeply involved in the conference, while others have little to no connection with the conference and are more closely aligned with historically black denominations or other progressive denominations.

And some SBC churches interpret the 2000 Statement of Faith as only applying to senior pastors: As long as the church’s leadership is male, they argue, women can fill other pastoral roles.

Dwight McKissick, a pastor in Arlington, Texas, said on the social media platform “X” that churches could break away if SBC leaders intervene to help congregations “according to their consciences, biblical beliefs and values, recognizing that women can receive God’s pastoral gifts in partnership with male leaders.”

Other churches maintain that women can hold any position, including senior pastor, and churches are open to disagreement as long as they accept most of the SBC’s statement of faith.

That category also includes First Baptist Church of Alexandria, which said in a statement that while its current senior pastor is a man, it recognizes “God’s calling to ordain to the pastoral office anyone who is qualified, whether male or female.”

First Baptist Church leaders declined interview requests, but the church has written extensively about the issue on its website.

The company said it plans to send representatives to the SBC’s annual general meeting but has been warned to expect motions to be tabled to strip the representatives of their voting rights.

“We believe our voices need to be heard and represented,” Lead Pastor Robert Stevens told congregants during a videotaped meeting.

Click here to get the FOX News app

The SBC’s highest governing body opposes the proposed change. Jeff Iorg, chairman of the SBC Executive Committee, wrote in a Baptist Press commentary that investigating churches’ compliance would be an unsustainable expenditure of time and energy on something that should not be a test of fellowship.

The Baptist Women’s Ministers Association, which began within the SBC in the 1980s and now operates across multiple Baptist denominations, has also noticed this. Executive director Rev. Meredith Stone said several female pastors within the SBC have reached out to them for support.

On the eve of the SBC conference, the group will release “Midwives of a Movement,” a documentary about pioneering female Baptist pastors in the 20th century.

“Although the church says women are less valuable to God than men, we want to make sure women know they have equal value to men and there are no limitations to following Christ in church activities,” Stone said.