A subcommittee of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee took no action on a proposed Constitutional Amendment to compel the SBC to obey the Bible and disfellowship churches with women pastors. The same SBC Executive Committee meeting voted to expel Rick Warren’s Saddleback over its female teaching pastor. When Warren retired, Saddleback named a husband and wife as pastors.
According to a statement released on Twitter by proponents of the constitutional amendment, the Executive Committee “took no action” and will not decide the fate of a “constitutional amendment calling for the SBC to uphold the Baptist Faith & Message 2000 and the clear biblical teaching that pastors should only be biblically qualified men” until early June just hours before the SBC’s Annual Meeting in New Orleans.
“God’s Word is clear. Our Convention’s Statement of Faith is clear. It is time for our Constitution to be clear,” said Pastor Michael Law, Jr. to the SBC Executive Committee.
Law presented to the SBC an open letter signed by 2,107 verified Southern Baptist pastors and theologians supporting a constitutional amendment.
“All that 2,100 Southern Baptist pastors are asking, is that we bring our Convention’s conduct in line with our Convention’s Statement of Faith…Dr. Barber and Dr. Wellman, I am asking you to keep your promise that this amendment would come before messengers in New Orleans.”
That open letter can be viewed online here, and conservative pastors may add their name.
According to the letter, Law “felt the need to offer this amendment because five Southern Baptist churches, roughly within a five-mile radius of my own congregation, are employing women as pastors of various kinds, including women serving as ‘Sr. Pastor.’ Many others have found that a number of Southern Baptist churches appoint, affirm, or employ women as pastors in their areas, too. These churches often use a modified title – co-pastor, worship pastor, women and children’s pastor, discipleship pastor, or youth pastor – but all trade on the office of ‘pastor.’”
The SBC failed to act on the amendment at the same meeting that it acted on the problem of women teaching pastors.
Saddleback was deemed “not in friendly cooperation” by the Executive Committee after a recommendation from the Credentials Committee, according to reports. This comes after last year’s Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Anaheim where the Credentials Committee seemed baffled and could not answer the question: What Is A Pastor?
Saddleback was where Rick Warren recently retired as pastor. Warren made a clown of himself speaking at the SBC Annual Meeting in a rambling, self-aggrandizing speech about how amazing he was. Also, Rick Warren has close ties to the World Economic Forum. Plus, WEF favorite Rick Warren endorsed Bart Barber in last year’s SBC Presidential race.
So, why was there action on Saddleback and not on the constitutional amendment? One SBC trustee tweeted out an interesting fact: “The amendment is about ‘pastors of any kind’; at least one SBCEC member has a female pastor on staff.”
Troubling.
However, many Southern Baptists expressed hope the SBC’s Annual Meeting will act on the amendment. Denny Burk said, “I hope and pray that Southern Baptists will act on this amendment.”
It will likely require a massive conservative turnout in New Orleans to make that happen. Is that possible given the rapid leftward rush of the SBC?