Southern Baptists voted to advance a formal ban on churches with women pastors, with thousands of delegates overwhelmingly supporting the measure. The amendment would tighten existing restrictions in the Southern Baptist Convention, which already has a faith statement opposing women pastors.
Background
The vote at the annual meeting was 6,028 to 2,026 — a 3-to-1 margin — which easily exceeded the required two-thirds majority. It will require a similar two-thirds vote at next year’s meeting to become part of the constitution.
The amendment’s sponsor, Albert Mohler, characterized the amendment as addressing a defining issue. “This is an opportunity for Southern Baptists to speak in truth, in unity, in conviction,” said Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.
Southern Baptist leaders cite biblical passages that limit pastors to men. Advocates for women’s ministry cite biblical passages that proclaim men and women as equal under God and where women are called to proclaim the gospel.
Reaction
The organization Baptist Women in Ministry, which works with female ministers in a variety of Baptist denominations, issued a statement lamenting the vote. “We express our solidarity with the women in ministry who have been harmed by this vote, the hateful rhetoric and propaganda leading up to the vote, and the damaging theology the vote represents,” it said.
The denomination has also expelled churches with women in senior pastoral roles, including the large Saddleback Church of California, on the grounds of an existing clause in the constitution barring churches whose “faith and practice” was out of harmony with the denomination’s.
Original reporting: WESH Orlando — read the source article.
