The annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention this week in Orlando, and one official is promising that the question of women pastors, already settled by at least one Hall County church, will be brought up again.
The Rev. Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a Samford University graduate, was quoted in a Facebook post last week that he plans to propose an amendment that clarifies that no Southern Baptist church should “affirm, appoint, or endorse a woman serving in the office or function of a pastor/elder/overseer, specifically preaching to the assembled congregation.”
Gainesville’s First Baptist Church addressed the issue three years ago.
EARLIER STORY. POSTED JUNE 15, 2023: The First Baptist Church of Gainesville (FBC) is pulling out of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), the Chattahoochee Baptist Association, and the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, “pending FBC approval at an upcoming church conference,” according to an open letter to church membership from Senior Pastor Rev. Dr. Jeremy Shoulta.
At issue is the SBC’s affirmation at its annual conference this week of its opposition to women clergy by amending its constitution to remove any church from its membership which “appoints or employs a woman as a pastor of any kind.”
In his letter, which you can read here https://www.fbcgainesville.org/2412-2/… Rev. Shoulta points out that First Baptist has “celebrated the presence of women pastors on our staff for some time, and we will not compromise this practice…”
From SRN NEWS/AP, there’s more here on the meeting and the issues expected to face those in attendance: 4 years running, Southern Baptists weigh tightening ban on churches with women pastors – SRN News