Southern Baptists and The Law Amendment

In a post on March 1, I mentioned that though I am not Southern Baptist, I recognize and understand that the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is the largest and most influential body of Baptists in the United States. This Convention is more often in the news than any other body of Baptists. In the minds of many Americans, what Southern Baptists believe and practice is what Baptists believe and practice. For that reason, as an outsider I sometimes address issues specific to the SBC. An SBC issue in the news, as well as lighting up YouTube, blogs and X posts, is what is called the “Law Amendment.”[i]

This is a proposed amendment to the SBC Constitution, Article 3, Paragraph 1, which defines the makeup or composition of the Convention, including what kind of churches can be deemed in “friendly cooperation” with the Convention. The amendment proposes a sixth affirmation clarifying such cooperating churches.

The Convention will only deem a church to be in friendly cooperation with the Convention, and sympathetic with its purposes and work (i.e., a “cooperating” church as that term is used in the Convention’s governing documents) which…6. Affirms, appoints, or employs only men as any kind of pastor or elder as qualified by Scripture. [bolded portion is the proposed amendment]

The intent of the amendment is to exclude from the SBC churches that have female pastors.[ii] The use of the word “pastor” by churches in the SBC may range from the main preaching pastor to a woman who is the “pastor” overseeing the nursery program. For many it becomes an opportune word rather than a biblical word.

In February of 2023, the SBC Executive Committee voted to remove from its ranks the prominent Saddleback Church founded by progressive Rick Warren for having a female teaching pastor functioning in the office of pastor. In June the messengers of the Convention rejected Warren’s appeal and sustained the vote of the Executive Committee. At this time they also passed the first approval of the “Law Amendment.” It seems that the amendment intends totake the decision to oust a church out of being a subjective case-by-case decision made by the Executive Committee to being one firmly founded in the Constitution itself.

Proponents of the amendment argue that it will stabilize the convention “and guard us from the drift toward liberalism.” Opponents offer all sorts of arguments, from parliamentary matters to at least a light defense of women in pastoral roles as long as they are not “senior pastors.”[iii] They claim there is no “drift toward liberalism.” As an outsider looking in, it is my opinion that the “Conservative Resurgence” was not as much Conservative or Resurgence as either defenders or detractors of it like to think.[iv] Regardless, conservatism must be continually reasserted and reapplied. Often liberals simply duck down in their holes until the time seems right to pop their heads back up.

Some links with information about the controversy (pro & con):

• Can Anything Clear Come Out of Confusion? The Self-Contradiction, Omission, and Myopia of the Law Amendment -- “For the Law Amendment to be taken seriously, all supposed improper uses of the title should be addressed.”
• Can’t we all just get along in the SBC? -- “The SBC has no official power over any congregation, for better or for worse. The SBC does, however, have power to determine its own composition.”
• How Many Female Pastors are in the SBC? -- “The information collected is all publicly available. We checked every church against official SBC listings.”
• Letter: A Call to Keep Our Unity -- “The signatories to this letter join me in urging you to recommend the above amendment at the 2023 annual meeting. This action will bring clarity to the current confusion in our Convention...”
• Open Letter to Baptist Women -- “Even today, men are taking actions against women who are ministering, leading, and pastoring to spread the love and grace of Jesus Christ. They are wrong.”
• Responding to Opposition to the Law Amendment -- “The amendment simply clarifies what our Constitution already provides—that Southern Baptists wish to cooperate with churches that call biblically qualified men as pastors.”
• The State of the SBC -- “The question is going forward, do we want to have to consider every one of these things on a case-by-case basis? Because, I think the answer to that has to be no.”

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[i] So-called because it was proposed by Mike Law, pastor of Arlington Baptist Church, Arlington, Virginia. As of 31 January 2023, a letter from Law about the amendment had gained over 2000 supporting signatures from SBC pastors and professors. I do not know its current status, numerically.

[iii] It is my understanding that this amendment was passed by the SBC messengers in June 2023, and that the constitution requires a second vote – that is, an amendment must be approved by 23 of the messenger in two consecutive annual meetings of the Convention.

[iii] Whatever that is. It is nothing, biblically speaking.
[iv] And certainly not a “takeover,” as the opposition grumbles. In 1978, the Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention and other entities sponsored a forum called the Consultation on Women in Church-Related Vocations. Now in 2023-24, after some perhaps 40 years of so-called “takeover,” the SBC is dealing with the fallout of women in church-related vocations (particularly ordained ones).