ALEXANDRIA, Virginia: The First Baptist Church of Alexandria, Virginia, which has a woman pastor, may soon face a bleak future if the Southern Baptist Convention has its way.
On June 11 and 12, the representatives at the SBC’s annual meeting in Indianapolis will vote on whether to ban women pastors in churches by amending its constitution. In a preliminary vote last year, the representatives voted overwhelmingly in favor of the move.
First Baptist leaders are bracing for a possible expulsion. The church has given millions of dollars to Southern Baptist causes and has been involved with the convention since its founding in the 19th century.
“We are grieved at the direction the SBC has taken,” The Associated Press said, quoting the church.
Incidentally, the proposed ban could affect hundreds of congregations and impact predominantly Black churches.
The events leading to this vote were kicked off two years ago when a Virginia pastor contacted SBC officials to complain that First Baptist and four nearby churches were “out of step” with denominational doctrine that says only men can be pastors. In April this year, the SBC Credentials Committee began a formal inquiry.
Women work in pastoral roles in hundreds of SBC-linked churches, a fraction of the nearly 47,000 across the denomination.
However, critics believe the amendment would further reduce the numbers and mindset of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, which has moved steadily rightward in recent decades.
Also, they ask if the SBC has nothing better to do.
For example, sexual abuse cases are rife in its churches. In May, a former professor at a Southern Baptist seminary in Texas was indicted for falsifying a record about alleged sexual abuse by a student to obstruct a federal investigation into sexual misconduct in the convention.
The SBC membership has also dipped below 13 million, and baptisms are declining.
The amendment would not see an instant purge. However, SBC leaders would be occupied for years, investigating and ousting churches..
However, since Baptist churches work independently, the convention cannot dictate what they should do or whom they should appoint as pastor.
