How do Southern Baptists feel about women pastors? What about women deacons?
Well, we will soon find out. SBC President J.D. Greear named Ed Stetzer as chairman of the 2020 SBC Resolutions Committee. Stetzer has served over two years as Interim Teaching Pastor at Moody Church. And Moody Church has women deaconesses.
The Louisiana Baptist Message was the first to report this huge news.
According to the report by Will Hall, “Stetzer likely will be considered a controversial choice by many Southern Baptists. He is the interim teaching pastor for the Moody Church in Chicago, Illinois, a non-SBC congregation that ordains women as deaconesses and is elder-led.”
The SBC spoke about the role of women in any office requiring ordination in a 1984 resolution. The Southern Baptist Convention declared:
“Therefore, be it RESOLVED, That we not decide concerns of Christians doctrine and practice by modern cultural, sociological, and ecclesiastical trends or by emotional factors; that we remind ourselves of the dearly bought Baptist principle of the final authority of Scripture in matters of faith and conduct; and that we encourage the service of women in all aspects of church life and work other than pastoral functions and leadership roles entailing ordination.”
The role of women in ministry is a serious debate among Southern Baptists in 2020. Beth Moore sparked controversy with preaching during Sunday morning worship services.
Now, Stetzer is teaching pastor at a non-SBC church with women deacons.
This is a serious question—just how much has the modern culture and feminism influenced SBC Elites?
Also, is this is a sign of Stetzer’s Wokeness? And what does that mean for efforts to rescind the infamous Resolution 9— the action taken by the SBC to approve the use of Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality as Analytical Tools.
As Hall notes in his report, “Stetzer will face demands from conservative Southern Baptists to retract or otherwise replace the controversial Resolution 9 passed by messengers in 2019. This measure lauded the neo-Marxist ideas of Critical Race Theory and intersectionality, both of which perpetuate racial divisiveness.”
So, Southern Baptists, how do you feel about Stetzer leading the Resolutions Committee? An interim teaching pastor of a non-SBC church that ordains women deacons?
How does a congregation justify electing a messenger currently leading a church unaffiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention? Could Tim Keller be elected? Joel Osteen? The Pope? As long as some SBC church enrolls and elects them, is it true that they can serve even if they actively Pastor within another denomination’s tradition?
If the Interim Pastor of a church in a different denomination can be a committee chairman, then can a Permanent Pastor of a church in a different denomination be one? It seems to me one should not only be on the roll, but actively serving in the SBC in some capacity, in order to be a messenger and influence outcomes in the SBC.
Given the direction the SBC is headed, I’m surprised they didn’t recruit Bernie Sanders for the job.
Well, with women deacons I can see why its named Moody Church.
They have two sister churches named Whiny and Busybody.
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