700 Southern Baptist Pastors Call for Ban on Women Pastors ‘of Any Kind’
Some 700 Southern Baptist pastors have written an open letter to the Southern Baptist Convention asking for an amendment to the Convention’s constitution that would prohibit women from serving “as a pastor of any kind.”
According to The Christian Post, Pastor Mike Law of Arlington Baptist Church in Arlington, Virginia, wrote in the letter titled “A Call to Keep Our Unity” that there is a growing number of Southern Baptist churches that employ women as pastors in the church.
“Personally, I felt the need to offer this amendment because five Southern Baptist churches, roughly within a five-mile radius of my own congregation, are employing women as pastors of various kinds, including women serving as “Sr. Pastor,” Law said. “Many others have found that a number of Southern Baptist churches appoint, affirm, or employ women as pastors in their areas, too.”
Law and the other pastors are asking for an amendment to Article III, paragraph 1 of the SBC Constitution on “Composition.”
The 2000 Baptist Faith & Message statement already affirms that “while both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.”
The “Resolution On Ordination And The Role Of Women In Ministry” also already recognizes that the Bible “excludes women from pastoral leadership” and “pastoral functions.”
“This matter has long been settled by Southern Baptists,” Law said.
“Abiding women in the pastoral office materially harms the work of the Convention because it cultivates disunity where we have long been united,” wrote Law. It contaminates the soil of our Convention with distrust of and disobedience to the Scriptures, particularly 1 Timothy 2:12 and 3:1-7,” he added.
The next SBC Executive Committee meeting is in February 2023. The committee has not said if they will consider the issue.
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Amanda Casanova is a writer living in Dallas, Texas. She has covered news for ChristianHeadlines.com since 2014. She has also contributed to The Houston Chronicle, U.S. News and World Report and IBelieve.com. She blogs at The Migraine Runner.
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