Southern Baptists Revisit Ban on Women Pastors as 12.3 Million-Member Denomination Keeps Shrinking
Updated
Updated · The Associated Press · Jun 5
Southern Baptists Revisit Ban on Women Pastors as 12.3 Million-Member Denomination Keeps Shrinking
3 articles · Updated · The Associated Press · Jun 5
Summary
More than 11,000 Southern Baptist representatives will meet in Orlando next week to debate, for a fourth straight year, whether to bar churches that affirm women in any pastoral role, not just senior pastor.
The proposed constitutional amendment by seminary president Albert Mohler would exclude churches that appoint or endorse a woman as pastor, elder or overseer; similar measures won majorities in prior years but fell short of the required two-thirds vote.
A parallel nonbinding resolution with similar language needs only a simple majority, while the convention can still expel churches judged outside "friendly cooperation" even though it cannot directly govern independent congregations.
The fight has drawn pushback from figures including Beth Moore and Texas pastor Amy Sims, who argue the SBC is fixating on women in ministry while abuse and other failures have caused deeper harm.
The debate comes as the SBC, a key base of white evangelical support for Donald Trump, reports membership down to 12.3 million—the lowest since 1973—even as baptisms have recently risen.