Southern Baptists advance formal ban on churches with women pastors
AP News • • nation
Key Points:
- The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) overwhelmingly voted 6,028 to 2,026 to advance a constitutional amendment banning women pastors, requiring a two-thirds majority at next year’s meeting to become official.
- The amendment aims to tighten existing restrictions, explicitly excluding churches that affirm or appoint women as senior pastors who preach to congregations, reflecting the denomination’s conservative evangelical stance.
- The SBC can expel churches that appoint women pastors, a practice already enforced with churches like Saddleback Church, but this amendment seeks to provide clearer constitutional authority on the issue.
- The vote highlights a sharp divide between conservative Southern Baptists and more liberal Protestant denominations that ordain women, with advocates for women’s ministry condemning the measure as harmful and exclusionary.
- In related news, Florida pastor Willy Rice was elected as the new SBC president, supporting the amendment and reflecting ongoing conservative trends within the denomination on gender and other social issues.