(Scypre.com) – The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) recently decided not to pass a constitutional ban on women pastors. This decision was a major victory for those who wanted to maintain local church autonomy and reduce the growing antagonism towards women in ministry. The SBC is the largest Protestant denomination in the United States, and this decision ended a two-year political dispute about church policy. However, it might not completely end the debate about women’s roles in the church.
The proposed amendment was the most debated issue at this year’s SBC annual meeting and even affected other decisions, including the election for SBC president. If the measure had passed, more churches were expected to leave the Nashville-based denomination. Some churches would leave due to the message downplaying women’s contributions to the church, while others would see the SBC as being too strict about certain doctrinal beliefs.
During the debate, some people argued that the amendment was not necessary for the SBC to respond when churches in the convention acted in a way contrary to their complementarian doctrine. They believed that the SBC had an effective mechanism to act with conviction and unity on this issue.
If the measure had succeeded, it would have allowed SBC leaders to strictly enforce their beliefs about the role of women in ministry and disfellowship churches that do not adhere to those standards. However, even without the constitutional change, the SBC has disfellowshipped seven churches over these standards.
The decision to not pass the amendment was the second consecutive decision on the measure. During the floor debate, Virginia pastor Mike Law, who originally proposed the amendment, emphasized that the proposal is “not about women in ministry, it’s specifically about women in the pastoral office.” Law also said that the SBC’s commitment to their understanding of what scripture says about women’s role in the church should not be compromised by others’ perceptions of the SBC.
On the other hand, critics warned against the SBC becoming overly prescriptive about certain doctrine for autonomous churches, while proponents said cooperation should not come at the risk of adherence to certain tenets. SBC President Bart Barber and the SBC Cooperation Group, a task force appointed to study the denomination’s standards of affiliating with churches, urged the convention to extend a spirit of generosity across differences.
In the end, the decision came down to the numbers. Messengers voted 61% in favor of the Law Amendment, falling short of the required two-thirds majority for constitutional amendments. The fallout of this decision likely won’t deviate much from the current climate regarding women’s authority in the church. The SBC has already cemented the means by which it can exclude churches with women pastors, and the conflict over policy limiting church leadership to men is not exclusive to the SBC.