Woman Pastors

The Baptist General Convention of Texas approved and adopted a statement last week encouraging its staff to continue to affirm women in “ministerial and leadership roles.”

Pastor and Former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, J.D. Greear, has expressed his support for the National African American Fellowship's challenge to a recent vote at the SBC's Annual Meeting to ban women pastors "of any kind."

Theologian and author John Piper recently asserted that women shouldn't hold leadership positions in parachurch organizations.

A female pastor whose Kentucky church was ousted from the Southern Baptist Convention is doubling down on her disagreement with the SBC’s interpretation of Scripture, particularly when it comes to women in ministry.

The annual gathering of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) concluded last week, having dealt with much on their plate: the election of a president, reporting (and lack thereof) of sexual abuse, and the financial mismanagement of seminaries.

But without a doubt, the most attention was given to the disfellowshipping of a handful of churches that had women serving as pastors. One church was front and center: Saddleback Community Church, one of the largest and most influential SBC churches in recent history, pastored by arguably the most well-known SBC pastor in recent history until his recent retirement, Rick Warren.

When Southern Baptists met in New Orleans this week for their annual convention, a number of important issues were on the docket. The SBC’s primary focus, however, was rendering a verdict on whether Saddleback Church, a megachurch in California started by Rick Warren, would be able to remain affiliated with the SBC due to the issue of women pastors. The Convention decided to disfellowship the church back in February because it had ordained three women as pastors in 2021 and “assigned pastoral titles to all women in pastoral roles” last December. And while more than 88 percent of those who came representing their home churches voted to uphold that judgment, it’s unlikely that the matter is settled for good.

But why was the topic of women in the role of pastors such a big issue for the SBC? And why is this discussion relevant to you, regardless of your belief on that subject or your denominational affiliation?

The same day his former church was removed from the Southern Baptist Convention for his hiring of a female pastor, pastor and author Rick Warren said he believes the denomination eventually will change on the issue.

The Southern Baptist Convention voted this week overwhelmingly in support of pushing through an amendment that would prevent women from serving as a “pastor of any kind.”

Southern Baptist Convention messengers on Tuesday agreed to disfellowship Saddleback Church and another congregation for hiring female pastors, upholding a previous decision by the denomination’s Executive Committee that cited a conflict with the SBC’s statement of faith.

The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee said this week that members will vote on a measure that would forbid women from serving as a “pastor of any kind” in SBC churches.