LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The Southern Baptist Convention narrowly rejected a proposal Wednesday to enshrine a ban on churches with women pastors in their constitution after opponents argued it was unnecessary because the denomination already has a way of ousting such churches.
The measure failed to get the required two-thirds supermajority, which came as a shock since it has removed several churches in the last year for having women pastors, including Louisville church, Fern Creek Baptist.
"There is so much in-fighting with the group that nothing surprises me anymore," said Linda Barnes Popham, the female pastor for Fern Creek Baptist. "I don't mean that to be a slam on them ... because that's the home."
One day before the Convention voted on the formal ban regarding female pastors, it overwhelming voted in favor of ousting First Baptist Church of Alexandria, which affirms women can serve in any pastoral rule, including as senior pastor.
"I don't get that inconsistency there," Barnes Popham said.
"The Bible teaches that the Office of Pastor is restricted to men as qualified by, by scriptural qualifications," said Dr. Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville. "It has been a controversy in the Christian church for a very short amount of time, and around the world, the vast majority of churches are exactly where the Southern Baptist Convention is.”
The belief only men can serve as pastors is included in a doctrinal statement of the SBC. What the convention voted against Wednesday was to amend its constitution, formally banning churches with women pastors.
"It would have added greater simplicity to helping our processes apply that within the Convention, but the fundamental beliefs of Southern Baptist didn't change over the course of the last couple days, and in fact, they were really reaffirmed," said Ryan Fullerton, lead pastor at Immanuel Baptist Church.
Bottom line — the SBC can still reject or find churches women pastors not in good standing, it will just follow a process, and take more time for removal.
Fern Creek Baptist said this does not re-invite them to join the SBC. Instead, the church has operated as an independent Baptist church, and has explored other Baptist conventions to join including the Texas Baptist Convention and Virginia Baptist Convention.
The church is expected to make a decision as a congregation later this summer.
Barnes Popham said the SBC's concern with women pastors is a distraction.
"Still believe all of the issues surrounding women in ministry has provided a smoke screen trying to deter attention away from the horrible sexual abuse that has taken place and continues to take place in Southern Baptist churches and with Southern Baptist leadership," she said.
The SBC's Executive Committee has been under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice regarding its alleged handling of sexual abuse in churches and its leadership.
As of now, the DOJ has not proceeded with charges.
The SBC has faced a reckoning over its handling of sexual abuse since a 2019 report by the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express News, documenting hundreds of abuse cases in Southern Baptist churches. That led to a 2022 independent consultant’s report saying top SBC leaders responded to abuse survivors with “resistance, stonewalling, and even outright hostility.”
However, the SBC said its decision on women pastors is an effort to create a cohesive organization.
"Any organization, in order to be healthy, has to exclude those people who don't agree with the fundamental principles of its organization," Fullerton said.
"I think, it demonstrates the fact the SBC is very serious about his doctrinal commitments," said Mohler. "And sometimes this leads to difficult decisions."
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