You may have heard from some media reports that messengers at Southern Baptist Convention in Indianapolis affirmed that women can serve as pastors. That is absolutely not the case. In fact, the messengers voted overwhelmingly that an historic Baptist church in Alexandria, Virginia that does affirm women pastors is no longer in friendly cooperation with the SBC as it is not closely aligned with our doctrinal statement, The Baptist Faith & Message.
Here are five things we did at this year’s annual meeting. We did more than this, but these are the things that stood out to me.
- We rejected a clarifying amendment: The messengers did not reach the required two-thirds majority needed to pass the Law Amendment. The amendment would have added a statement to the SBC Constitution that defined a cooperating church as one that “affirms, appoints, or employs only men as any kind of pastor or elder as qualified by Scripture.” The amendment received 61% of the votes taken — a large majority, but a few points short of the two-thirds vote that what was needed. Denny Burk, a Kentucky Baptist pastor and professor at Southern Baptist Seminary stated in response to a social media post, “The SBC still retains the right to remove any church it deems necessary to remove.” The fact that the amendment failed should in no way be interpreted that Southern Baptists affirm women serving in the role of pastor. One friend who cares deeply about these issues said to me, “The SBC is likely more complementarian than at any point in its recent history. It has disfellowshipped more churches on the women pastor issue in the past 3 years than in the 21 other years combined since the passing of the BFM 2000.” The vote was not a rejection of complementarianism but a disagreement over how it should best be expressed.
- We commissioned new missionaries: The highlight of every Southern Baptist Convention is the International Mission Board’s Sending Ceremony — when we send newly appointed missionaries to the nations. That is why the SBC was organized in 1845 and it remains one of our greatest reasons for our continued existence. This year we recognized 83 missionaries from Southern Baptist churches, including several from Kentucky, who are going to some of the most gospel-barren places on the planet to preach the good news of Jesus to those who are lost and, in many cases, have never heard His message of redemption.
- We celebrated increased baptisms: This year we celebrated an increase in baptisms in 35 of our 41 state conventions. Kentucky saw a 32% increase over last year, reflecting the strongest number of baptisms since 2019. What a joy to see so many Southern Baptist churches baptizing men, women, boys and girls who have crossed over from spiritual death into new life in Christ.
- We elected a new president: Clint Pressley of Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina was selected after two runoff votes to serve as president of the SBC. Bart Barber did an incredible job of leading us over the past two years and there is little doubt that Pastor Clint will do the same.
- We were given an important reminder: “The Mission Matters Most” could have been an alternate headline following the SBC in Indianapolis. That is the mantra of our newly elected SBC Executive Committee President and CEO, Jeff Iorg. Iorg reminded us that we must continue to navigate all the challenges that come our way, but we must do so while advancing the mission assigned to us by our Lord Jesus Christ.
I am reminded each year when I leave the SBC Annual Meeting that we are better together and that we are at our best when we are working together to advance the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
May God be pleased to continue to use Southern Baptists to carry his gospel to those who are across the street and across the globe until Jesus returns or calls us home.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Todd Gray and originally published by Kentucky Today.
