In an era where more churches and denominations are capitulating to progressive values, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) took a step in the right direction toward ensuring that its conservative doctrine and practice is preserved. The Truth and Unity Amendment gives America’s largest Protestant denomination the direction for removing churches from the SBC who go against the Bible’s teaching that only qualified men, not women, should be pastors.
The amendment to the SBC’s Constitution, offered by Dr. Albert Mohler, passed at the SBC’s Annual Meeting with the required supermajority. Pending another successful vote at next year’s Annual Meeting in Indianapolis, the SBC’s Constitution will officially be amended to define a church in friendly cooperation with the SBC as one that “does not act to affirm, appoint, or endorse a woman serving in the office or function of a pastor/elder/overseer, specifically preaching to the assembled congregation.”
As this amendment has been debated in recent years, critics in the media and from within the SBC have described it as a ban on women serving as pastors and in ministry. In reality, this amendment provides the institutional mechanisms to adequately deal with churches in the SBC who have women serving as pastors. This was necessary because, despite the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, the Southern Baptist statement of faith already limiting the role of pastor to qualified men, the committee in the SBC responsible for determining whether a church is in friendly cooperation or not has failed to consistently apply this established doctrine to churches.
For example, NewSpring Church, a South Carolina megachurch with a female teaching pastor was reported to the SBC. The Credentials Committee, the committee tasked with issuing rulings on a church’s standing in the SBC, ruled that this church was in friendly cooperation and that its practice did not violate the SBC’s statement of faith. The Credentials Committee tasked with issuing rulings on a church’s standing in the SBC drew sharp criticism for its failure to disfellowship NewSpring Church. Because of this instance and several similar ones, many Southern Baptists saw the need to strengthen their governing documents to ensure the churches in cooperation with the convention are abiding by our statement of faith.
Many critics have called the amendment an unnecessary attack on women. “Why has such fear of ministry service by women escalated in recent years?” Jennifer Rash, the editor-in-chief for “The Alabama Baptist,” asked. “How many Southern Baptist churches are led by women senior pastors?” Rather than deal with the context of how this amendment came to be presented, such a question neglects the issue at the heart of the Truth and Unity Amendment, misrepresenting it as a vendetta against women serving in church ministerial roles.
Many denominations who have embraced women serving in pastoral ministry have also rejected the Bible’s teaching on issues such as sexuality and abortion. Thus, I believe the passage of the Truth and Unity Amendment is a positive indication that the SBC will remain a faithful and conservative institution in American public life.
Baptist pastors and other ministry leaders in Alabama should celebrate and champion what their statement of faith teaches, and they should diligently safeguard the SBC’s reputation as an orthodox and conservative denomination. True unity cannot exist without a firm resolve and commitment to the truth, and for that reason, the Mohler Amendment will serve the SBC in dealing with the ever-present temptation to order our churches in a manner contrary to God’s Word.
C. Wyatt Newsom is a minister in a Baptist church in West Alabama where he resides with his wife and daughter. He holds a Master of Divinity from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to [email protected].
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