EDITOR’S NOTE – Al Mohler revised the wording from “such as preaching” to “specifically preaching” June 2 after this opinion piece was published. Read more here. The wording change doesn’t impact the items outlined in this piece, however.
By Alan Cross, pastor of Petaluma Valley Baptist Church in Petaluma, California
Dr. Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, announced May 18, 2026, that he will propose a motion at the SBC’s Annual Meeting in Orlando (June 9–10) for an amendment to the SBC constitution regarding women and pastoral ministry. His proposed amendment would “make clear that a cooperating Southern Baptist church:
“6. Does not act to affirm, appoint, or endorse a woman serving in the office or function of a pastor/elder/overseer, such as preaching to the assembled congregation.”
To be clear, our confession of faith, the Baptist Faith & Message 2000 already says in Article VI:
“Each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes. In such a congregation each member is responsible and accountable to Christ as Lord. Its two scriptural offices are that of pastor/elder/overseer and deacon. While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor/elder/overseer is limited to men as qualified by Scripture” (emphasis mine).
This proposed amendment goes beyond the BFM2000, as well as the previously submitted and declined Law/Sanchez Amendment which prohibited women from serving as “pastors of any kind,” and moves the admonition regarding male-only pastors from just the more clearly defined “office” into a more broadly described sphere of “function.”
The word “or” here means that the proposed amendment would prohibit women from holding either the office of pastor or engaging in any kind of pastoral function in the life of the church, without defining clearly what those functions are.
