(RNS) — Southern Baptists could take the debate over women pastors to a new dimension as the nation’s largest Protestant denomination holds its annual meeting June 11-12 in Indianapolis.Local church representatives, or messengers, will be asked to vote a second time to amend the Southern Baptist Convention’s constitution to state that one way a church is considered to be in “friendly cooperation” is if it “affirms, appoints, or employs only men as any kind of pastor or elder as qualified by Scripture.”
At last year’s annual SBC gathering, messengers affirmed a decision to no longer affiliate with the well-known Saddleback Church, founded by Rick Warren, due to its women pastors on staff and a Kentucky church led by a woman.
Pastor Mike Law. (Photo via ArlingtonBaptist.com)
But organizations and individuals are divided on the amendment, with the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood on one side and Baptist Women in Ministry on the other. Three of the six candidates expected to be nominated for the SBC presidency favor the so-called “Law Amendment” to ban women pastors and three do not.
Pastor Mike Law of Arlington, Virginia, said at last year’s meeting that he introduced the amendment because he was seeking clarity through the measure: “When an unbeliever looks for a Southern Baptist church in my area, we want them to find a church that holds the Bible’s teachings and our convention’s beliefs.”
The amendment passed overwhelmingly last year, but it must get a second vote of at least two-thirds of the messengers at the upcoming meeting, with 10,500 preregistered as of Thursday (June 6), for it to become a part of the constitution.
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“If it were to fail, this would LIKELY be the first time that has happened,” Jonathan Howe, vice president for communications of the SBC Executive Committee, told Religion News Service about the lack of a precedent for a second vote overturning the outcome of the first.
Some churches made the decision to leave before they might be asked.
The Rev. Christy McMillin-Goodwin, pastor of First Baptist Church in Front Royal, Virginia, said she was surprised to discover that another Virginia clergyperson …
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At last year’s annual SBC gathering, messengers affirmed a decision to no longer affiliate with the well-known Saddleback Church, founded by Rick Warren, due to its women pastors on staff and a Kentucky church led by a woman.
Pastor Mike Law. (Photo via ArlingtonBaptist.com)
But organizations and individuals are divided on the amendment, with the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood on one side and Baptist Women in Ministry on the other. Three of the six candidates expected to be nominated for the SBC presidency favor the so-called “Law Amendment” to ban women pastors and three do not.
Pastor Mike Law of Arlington, Virginia, said at last year’s meeting that he introduced the amendment because he was seeking clarity through the measure: “When an unbeliever looks for a Southern Baptist church in my area, we want them to find a church that holds the Bible’s teachings and our convention’s beliefs.”
The amendment passed overwhelmingly last year, but it must get a second vote of at least two-thirds of the messengers at the upcoming meeting, with 10,500 preregistered as of Thursday (June 6), for it to become a part of the constitution.
RELATED: SBC abuse reform task force ends its work with no names on database and no long-term plan
“If it were to fail, this would LIKELY be the first time that has happened,” Jonathan Howe, vice president for communications of the SBC Executive Committee, told Religion News Service about the lack of a precedent for a second vote overturning the outcome of the first.
Some churches made the decision to leave before they might be asked.
The Rev. Christy McMillin-Goodwin, pastor of First Baptist Church in Front Royal, Virginia, said she was surprised to discover that another Virginia clergyperson …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]