Dear Southern Baptists

To my friends in the Southern Baptist Convention,

As you head to your convention this coming week in Indianapolis, I just want to point out one objective fact to you.

There are a number of conservative denominations in the United States that, at their founding, allowed female pastoral roles. But every single denomination that started as a male-only pastoral role and moved to allowing female pastors has abandoned Christian orthodoxy for the world. The United Methodists are in the process of doing that now.

While one might argue over whether women can be deacons based on the Greek in 1 Timothy 3, there is no question at all that Paul specifically used male words to refer to the role of elder leading the church.

For those of you in the Southern Baptist Convention, before you is the Law Amendment which would clarify to the credentialing committee that a church must affirm male pastors to be in cooperation with the Southern Baptist Convention. That does not mean you cannot be Baptist, but cooperative fellowships like the SBC should get to determine who they cooperate with. The Baptist Faith & Message has made clear pastors are to be men. But multiple churches have, like in the Garden, questioned much like the serpent asking, “Did God really say?”

The Law Amendment provides needed clarity. I encourage you to support it. Put simply, the Baptist Faith and Message states that the roles of pastor and elder must be held by men and the SBC Constitution requires that cooperating churches “closely identify” with the Baptist Faith and Message. But churches, such as Saddleback and now First Baptist Church of Alexandria, Virginia argue that they do closely identify with the Baptist Faith and Message even as they reject its statement on pastoral leadership.

This has led to a wild headline in the Associated Press this week that “Southern Baptists are poised to ban churches with women pastors. Some are urging them to reconsider.” The SBC’s Baptist Faith and Message already requires pastors to be men. This should not be a headline. This should not be a thing. It only is because some churches claim to closely identify with the SBC while rejecting what the Baptist Faith and Message sets forth.

Again, and you must note this objective fact, notwithstanding those old denominations that long ago started in the United States as egalitarian with male and female pastoral roles, every single denomination that has decided to abandon traditional male pastoral roles for men and women has ultimately moved from embracing just female pastors to also embracing gay ordination and gay marriage.

You can say that will never happen to you, but that is what they all said. Look at the PCUSA, ELCA, United Church of Christ, Episcopalians, and now the United Methodist Church. If your church thinks contemporary times mean updating the role of pastor to women, it won’t be long before those same contemporary times mean updating even more.

There is no greater example before you now than the United Methodist Church where the majority of congregants rejected gay ordination and marriage. But progressives promoted themselves within, taking over leadership roles, and ultimately, despite a majority against them, took over and forced a schism.

It is happening before all our eyes right now. And it is very important to remind you the progressives lost the vote in the UMC, but still managed to win that fight by holding on and elevating from within. Progressives are good at institutional capture. Look at your own Credentialing Committee in the SBC and how indecisive it has been on the matter due to the nebulousness of language that the Law Amendment would clarify.

I am in the PCA because the first week I went to college I went to a local Baptist Church near my university and was regaled by a lady preaching from the pulpit about how Christians needed to be less scriptural and more sacred, therefore we needed to spend less time in scripture and more time in the hymnal. My Southern Baptist preacher recommended I find a PCA Church. You won’t be surprised that this Baptist church, full of wonderful people, many of whom are friends of mine, now conducts same-sex marriages.

Support the Law Amendment and provide clarity to your convictions.