Conservatives just lost a major battle in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) over the Law Amendment, which would have clarified that churches with female pastors are not in cooperation with the SBC.
The amendment required a 2/3 majority to pass and failed by nearly 5% of the vote.
To be clear: This does not mean that the Southern Baptist Convention approves of female pastors.
The "Baptist Faith and Message 2000" statement is still clear on that matter.
However, the results of this vote means that having a female pastor does not automatically disqualify you now from friendly cooperation with the convention.
The SBC is the largest evangelical denomination in the United States, forming a predominant force in the culture and politics of a huge swath of America. Consider this map showing Baptist membership (including other Baptist groups) by county:
Last night, the SBC overwhelmingly voted to remove a church with female pastors. However, the writers of the Law Amendment pointed out that only two churches out of more than 1,000 with female pastors have been removed from the denomination in the last two years. The amendment would have streamlined and clarified the process for removal.
Southern Baptists, unfortunately, refused to stand on the clarity of their convictions about what the Bible says about pastors and the roles of males and females in the church.
The point of this exercise for some may have been to shift the Overton Window by shifting public support and pressure, a task that the godless corporate media was all too eager to champion:
Those who opposed the Law Amendment used this defense: "We're still complementarian. This amendment isn't necessary."
But when the vote failed, the Fake News was here to say that efforts to "ban churches" with female pastors fails.
That's not what happened, but that's what they WANT the outside world to think happened. They got their headline, just like they've done a thousand times before.
You might even say, "SBC leaves door to women pastors open." Because that is what has happened in effect.
The passage of the Law Amendment would have forced these churches to restructure their staff, choose to leave the SBC, or to face a cut-and-dry removal process. Instead, the status quo was maintained as the Fake News media shifts the Overton Window on female pastorship.
Let's be clear: Progressives in the SBC WANTED this headline. Many denied that this would be the headline, but anyone could see it coming.
Southern Baptists really fumbled the ball this time around.
But the fight isn't over.
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