Episode 81: No Girls Allowed
Lemuel: I am Lemuel Gonzalez, repentant sinner, and along with Amity Armstrong, your heavenly host, I invite you to find a place in the pew for today’s painless Sunday School lesson. Without Works.
Amity: At the recent Southern Baptist Convention, a gathering of the United State’s largest Protestant denomination, (at present 46,402 affiliated churches) an amendment was presented. The, ‘Truth and Unity,’ Amendment to the Church constitution includes the following directions. Affiliated Churches under the Convention banner were obliged:
“ … not to 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.”
This is being promoted by Al Mohler, misogynist and President of Southern Baptist University, in Louisville Kentucky. He says:
“There’s a great line that divides liberal and biblical evangelicalism, and you can see it on this very issue. The trajectory of liberal denominations is clear.”
Lemuel: These amendments require a two thirds majority to be added to the Constitution. An earlier attempt to amend the constitution in 2024 failed. Two successive votes of the two thirds majority. The penalties for rejecting the decisions of the convention include being unfellowshipped; that is, being removed from the organization.
In a recent interview on the subject, Albert Mohler clarified his position further. He said:
“The Purpose of this amendment is, to make very clear, we do not want to go the way of liberal Protestantism or for that matter, even other denominations we think are wrongly ordered in having women as pastors of Churches.”
Amity: Since approximately 2023, 206 churches have been disfellowed around these topics. In 2023 the Saddleback Church in California was, “disfellowshipped,” from the Southern Baptist Convention primarily for ordaining women. Local Church bodies were able to disfellowship the first Baptist Church of Decatur in 2009, The Druid Hills Baptist Church in 2010, and The Greater Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church of Lynchburg in 2015, for the same reason. Local Church organization led the charge in these cases. Now the SBC as a whole wants to amend their constitution to keep women from any position of authority.
A Historical Context on last vote, two years ago
YouTube: Southern Baptists reject ban on women pastors
Youtube: Southern Baptists narrowly vote against banning women pastors