Southern Baptists are about to prohibit churches with female pastors. Others are encouraging them to rethink their decision.
In its prominent white steeple and red-brick exterior, First Baptist Church of Alexandria, Virginia, aligns with the typical characteristics of a Southern Baptist church. Their Sunday services are marked by soulful gospel hymns and impassioned evangelistic sermons.
Recently, the church's pastor for women and children, Kim Eskridge, encouraged members to invite friends and neighbors to the upcoming Bible school to evangelize "families in the community with the gospel." However, her role as a female pastor may soon lead to the church's departure from the Southern Baptist Convention.
At the convention's annual meeting in Indianapolis on June 11-12, delegates will vote on a proposed amendment that effectively bans churches with women serving as pastors - not just the senior ones. This measure received strong approval in a preliminary vote last year.
The leaders of First Baptist, which has provided millions of dollars to the Southern Baptist cause and been affiliated since the 19th century, are preparing for possible expulsion.
"We are saddened by the direction the SBC has taken," the church declared in a statement.
Hundreds of congregations could potentially be affected by this ban, and predominantly Black churches may suffer disproportionately.
The vote is culminating an incident dating back two years. A Virginia pastor notified SBC officials that First Baptist and four nearby churches deviated from denominational doctrine which states that only men can fulfill the role of a pastor. The SBC Credentials Committee initiated a formal investigation in April.
Southern Baptists remain divided on which ministry roles this doctrine enumeration covers. While some insist it's confined to the senior pastor, others argue a pastor is anyone who preaches and assumes spiritual authority.
With Baptists valuing local church autonomy, critics claim the Convention shouldn't define its constitutional rule based on a single interpretation of its non-binding doctrinal statement.
It's estimated that women hold some pastoral positions in nearly 47,000 SBC-affiliated churches across the denomination.
However, the amendment, if passed, might narrow the denomination's beliefs and size further. Following years of moving to the right, the largest Protestant denomination in the United States has faced decreasing membership and dwindling baptism rates.
Despite the proposed ban, the SBC will continue investigating and removing churches that break doctrine. Many predominantly Black churches have male head pastors, but title pastors to women in other areas, such as worship or children's ministries.
Critics like Pastor Gregory Perkins, president of the SBC's National African American Fellowship, criticized such actions in a letter to the Convention, stating, "To disfellowship like-minded churches based on a local-church governance decision dishonors the spirit of cooperation and the guiding tenets of our denomination."
This controversy has altered efforts to diversify the predominantly white denomination and address its historic ties to slavery and segregation.
Advocates for the amendment maintain that preserving the Baptist Faith and Message statement requires the Convention to stand unyielding and Biblical. They emphasize that "if we won't stand on this issue and be unapologetically biblical, then we won't stand on anything."
Since Baptist churches are autonomous, the Convention can't order them to choose male pastors.
Nonetheless, the Convention has already elected to disassociate from churches with women pastors. Saddleback Church of California, a prominent congregation, and a small Kentucky church are among them. Should the amendment pass, this will provide more authority to the decision-making process. A few churches with female pastors have left voluntarily, including North Carolina's Elevation Church and First Baptist of Richmond, Virginia. Their ties to the SBC ranged from close affiliation to loose association and strong ties to other progressive denominations.
Critics maintain that allowing women in pastoral positions has been a precursor to eventually admitting LGBTQ+ people and advancing liberal readings within the Baptist Church.
However, the Pentecostal and other denominations have supported women pastors while maintaining theologically conservative views.
Some SBC churches with female pastors are heavily committed to the Convention, while others show minimal participation.
Some Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) churches believe that the 2000 faith statement only applies to senior pastors. These churches assert that as long as a church leader is a man, women can serve in other pastoral roles.
Dwight McKissic, a pastor from Arlington, Texas, expressed this sentiment on the social media platform X. He stated that if SBC leaders interfere with congregations who consider women to receive a pastoral gift from God, partnered with male leadership, such churches might leave the SBC.
Other churches hold the view that women can hold any role, including that of senior pastor. They believe that if churches accept the majority of the SBC's faith statement, disagreements can be tolerated.
One such church is First Baptist of Alexandria. Although it currently has a male senior pastor, it acknowledges "God's calling to ordain any qualified individual, male or female, for pastoral ministry."
First Baptist leaders have declined interview requests, but they have shared their perspective on their website. They plan to send representatives to the SBC annual meeting, fully anticipating a motion to deny them voting privileges.
Senior Pastor Robert Stephens has conveyed his desire to have their voices heard and represented via a video-recorded meeting with members.
The SBC's Executive Committee’s President, Jeff Iorg, opposes the amendment. In his opinion, investigating churches' adherence to the statement would consume an unreasonable amount of resources and focus on an issue that shouldn't be a litmus test for fellowship.
Baptist Women in Ministry, a group that started within the SBC during the 1980s and now works with various Baptist denominations, has taken notice. The group's executive director, the Rev. Meredith Stone, shared that several women pastors within the SBC have reached out for support.
The organization plans to launch a documentary, "Midwives of a Movement," which highlights 20th-century trailblazers for women in Baptist ministry, on the eve of the SBC gathering. It aims to reassure women that they hold equal value to men in the church and that they can pursue ministry roles without restrictions.
Read also:
Despite the potential ban on female pastors by the Southern Baptist Convention, First Baptist Church of Alexandria continues to stand firm in their belief that God calls qualified individuals, regardless of gender, to pastoral ministry. Moreover, the church is preparing to send representatives to the SBC annual meeting to defend their stance and maintain their voting privileges.
