Editorial: Is your church still united with the SBC?

Southern Baptists talked a lot about unity the last few days during their annual meeting in Orlando, Fla. Through repeated statements and actions, they made clear their unity is along doctrinal lines.

For Southern Baptists, unity with other Baptists reaches one of its limits at the “great line that divides,” to use Al Mohler’s phrase, those who affirm, appoint, or endorse women as pastors and those who will not.

Southern Baptists have made clear at their conventions over the last few years they consider Baptist churches with women lead, senior, or teaching pastors to be outside the bounds of Southern Baptist unity. Other pastoral roles have been less clear, though a resolution passed Wednesday sheds a little more light on those.

As Southern Baptists put a still finer point on this issue, Baptist churches who line up differently on women in ministry while still being connected to the Southern Baptist Convention will either need to decide for themselves or will have the SBC decide for them:

• Will they stay with the SBC?
• How will they modify their position on women in ministry in order to stay with the SBC?
• Or will they maintain their position on women in ministry at odds with the SBC and therefore leave the SBC?

Plenty of Baptist churches have taken a wait-and-see approach on their relationship to the SBC on this issue. There’s nothing left to wait and see, though, even if Mohler’s motion that passed Wednesday by nearly 75 percent doesn’t pass the required second vote in 2027. For all intents and purposes, we’ve seen, and the wait is over.

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Some will say I’m being divisive. Some will say I’m encouraging churches to leave the SBC. Neither is the case.

The division is not coming from me. The most recent division has been in play in the SBC since 1979, resulting in at least one Baptist state convention dividing and the formation of at least one other national Baptist body. No, I’m not being divisive. I’m acknowledging the divide that already exists.

Nor am I encouraging churches to leave the SBC or any other Baptist body of which they are a part. What I am saying is if a church holds a position on certain matters of faith and practice outside the SBC’s repeatedly affirmed position, then the church is already effectively out of the SBC, even if not officially. The SBC intends to make it official.

Some will say I’m being negative, that I’m ignoring all the good gospel ministry the SBC celebrated for a few days in Orlando, reducing the annual meeting to one topic—women pastors.

I didn’t ignore it. I paid attention to all of it the last two days. There is indeed much good gospel ministry being done by Southern Baptists. In fact, that’s why so many churches stay with the SBC.

But because I paid attention to all of it the last two days, I also heard the constant refrain that faithful cooperation with the SBC requires a church being in line with the SBC on women in ministry. I didn’t repeat that refrain. Southern Baptists on the platform and on the floor did.

There’s no getting around women in ministry being a consistent focus of this year’s SBC annual meeting. Nor is there getting around the dividing line drawn by SBC leadership over women in ministry.

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The SBC has drawn the line, not in the sand, but in black and white. If a church is on the wrong side of the line, it either needs to stop affirming, appointing, or endorsing women to the role and function of pastor, or it’s not part of the SBC. That’s the clear message from the SBC.

While it’s true Mohler’s motion only passed the first vote and still requires a second affirmative vote in 2027 to go into effect, the SBC has already removed churches with women pastors. That started in 2023.

Even so, churches are still asking if their having women as children’s pastors, worship pastors, youth pastors, missions pastors, or in other pastoral roles disqualifies them from membership in the SBC. Mohler’s motion doesn’t exactly clear that up, if one sees room to debate what constitutes “preaching” and “assembled congregation.” Some will debate that.

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Resolution 9, passed overwhelmingly Wednesday, gives further evidence of the SBC’s doctrinal unity on limiting the pastoral office and function to men.

It affirms the “function of teaching Scripture and preaching the word to the gathered church is essentially connected to the office of pastor/elder/overseer.”

The question here is what constitutes “the gathered church.” How much of the church has to be gathered for it to be “the gathered church?” Does a Sunday school or youth group count? Is “the gathered church” a local church only or also a convention of churches at a meeting?

The resolution encourages churches not to use “pastor,” “elder,” and “overseer” in ways that separate those titles from the office and function of pastor. Presumably this refers to such titles as media pastor, communications pastor, administrative pastor, and the like.

It also calls for “biblical terminology [to] be used carefully and consistently in order to promote doctrinal clarity, faithful cooperation, and unity among churches.”

At the same time, the resolution acknowledges: “Scripture teaches that women are equally created in the image of God, gifted by the Holy Spirit for meaningful service, and valuable in the work of the church.”

And it expresses “gratitude for the indispensable service, discipleship, evangelism, missions work, and ministry contributions of women throughout Southern Baptist life and encourage[s] churches to continue affirming and deploying women in biblically faithful ways.”

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The SBC has made its position known on women functioning in pastoral capacities within the church. The SBC is against it.

Baptist churches who line up differently on women in ministry while still being connected to the Southern Baptist Convention will either need to decide for themselves or will have the SBC decide for them:

• Will they stay with the SBC?
• How will they modify their position on women in ministry in order to stay with the SBC?
• Or will they maintain their position on women in ministry at odds with the SBC and therefore leave the SBC?

Is your church still united with the SBC?

These are questions for your church to answer. In answering them, seek the Lord first, study Scripture under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and conduct yourself in keeping with the character of Christ.

You may not be doctrinally united with the SBC. If that’s the case, know there are others equally committed to the lordship of Christ, the authority of Scripture, evangelism, missions, theological education, compassion ministry, and more with whom you can be and may already be united.

Eric Black is the executive director, publisher, and editor of the Baptist Standard. He can be reached at eric.black@baptiststandard.com. The views expressed in this opinion article are those of the author.