Southern Baptist Convention news: Live updates from 2023 annual meeting
NEW ORLEANS -- Thirteen thousand Southern Baptist Convention voting delegates are expected in New Orleans to vote on the status of women pastors and continuing abuse reform, decisions that will affect what it means to be Southern Baptist.
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What is the debate surrounding women pastors in the Southern Baptist Convention?
The 2023 SBC annual meeting is set to be another monumental year for the nation's largest Protestant denomination and much of it will happen Tuesday afternoon.
SBC delegates, known as messengers, vote for a new president, debate on whether to uphold the ouster of three churches, and vote on whether to renew the Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force.
On Monday, the SBC Executive Committee met and decided to elect new officers and forward to the full convention a measure that would enshrine a ban on women pastors. The measure, a proposed amendment to the SBC constitution, is one of several decisions that will affect the status of women pastors in the convention.
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What is the future of the Southern Baptist Convention in relation to women's leadership?
SBC President Bart Barber won reelection over contender Mike Stone after receiving 68% of the vote, according to results announced shortly after 5 p.m. CT Tuesday.
Barber defeated Stone with a wider margin than last year, when Barber defeated Florida pastor Tom Ascol with 60% of the vote. Like Stone, Ascol represented the opposition conservative faction within the SBC.
Barber's reelection signals yet another year in which the mainstream conservative candidate has defeated candidates trying to pull the convention further to the right.
Influential pastor Rick Warren says Saddleback, SBC share enough "in common"
Rick Warren, founder of California megachurch Saddleback Church and author of the massive bestseller "The Purpose Drive Life", said Tuesday that their church agrees with "99.9999%" of the Baptist Faith and Message -- just not the word regarding only men being pastor.
Warren's appeal came after two Southern Baptist committees determined Saddleback not in friendly cooperation with the SBC after it appointed women pastors.
"For 178 years the SBC has been a blend of at least a dozen different tribes of Baptists," Warren said. "If you think every Baptist thinks like you, you're mistaken. What we share in common is a mutual commitment to the inerrancy and infallibility of God's word and the Great Commission of Jesus Christ."
Al Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, came to the mic for a second time to support the committees' position.
"In the year 2000 the words, 'The office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture' was inserted because 30 years ago this issue threatened to tear this denomination apart," Mohler said.
Then, Southern Baptists decided the issue of women pastors was "not just a matter of church polity," but an issue "of biblical commitment (and) biblical authority," he said.
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What are the theological arguments surrounding women pastors in the Southern Baptist Convention?
A representative of Freedom Church in Vero Beach, Florida, Tuesday appealed a decision by a Southern Baptist committee to disfellowship the church for exhibiting "a lack of intent to cooperate in resolving concerns regarding a sexual abuse allegation."
Donald Stewart, an elder at the church, said the church's senior pastor has resigned.
"Although innocent of these charges, our former pastor wants the focus of Freedom Church to be on Jesus Christ, not on him," Stewart said.
The executive committee pushed back strongly, with Dean Inserra saying they do not believe that the pastor, "who is biblically disqualified from ministry," has actually been removed from leadership. Rather, it was "a strategic move designed to get the church back in the Southern Baptist Convention."
The pastor had a reported pattern of sexual misconduct with women under his care, but Freedom Church "took zero action," Inserra said.
Linda Barnes Popham told around 13,000 messengers of the Southern Baptist Convention that she has been a Southern Baptist all her life.
Popham, pastor of Fern Creek Baptist in Louisville, Tuesday afternoon appealed a decision of the SBC's credentials and executive committees to declare the church no longer in "friendly cooperation" with the convention.
In an impassioned speech, Popham described her church as "very conservative, evangelical, mission-minded Great Commission church, like many of you."
But, she said, "the spirit gives illumination to our hearts and minds and therefore we don't all interpret every Scripture the same way. We believe the Bible allows women to serve in ways you do not all agree, but we should still be able to partner together."
Representing the two committees was Al Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, who said there is no desire to invade local church autonomy.
"This comes down to two key words: doctrine and policy, or polity, and doctrine and order, and that comes down to the question of whether any congregation is in doctrine and in order in friendly cooperation," Mohler said, calling the issue one of "fundamental biblical authority that does violate both the doctrine and biblical order of the Southern Baptist Convention."
As expected but with a ferocity only experienced in the moment, Southern Baptist pastors nominated two candidates for SBC president: incumbent SBC President Bart Barber, a Texas pastor, and Georgia pastor Mike Stone.
Barber and Stone represent two factions in the SBC. Barber is the mainstream conservative candidate and Stone is the opposition conservative candidate. Stone's side wants to pull the SBC further to the right and has criticized ongoing sexual abuse reform.
"As a survivor of sexual abuse, I am grateful for how Bart has boldly led us toward sexual abuse reform. Some may question whether our work is still worth the effort," said Texas pastor Jarrett Stephens, who nominated Barber for reelection.
Barber, upon his election at the 2022 SBC annual meeting, appointed the SBC Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force.
"When abusers are fearful of getting caught and they're turning themselves in, this is what we all what we signed up for and we're headed in the right direction," Stephens said.
Florida pastor Willy Rice nominated Stone and though didn't explicitly say "abuse reform," there was no confusing Rice's references.
"A movement that should have united Southern Baptists to attack a problem has been coopted to divide us into attacking one another," Rice said.
Stone has recently campaigned on a vision for abuse reform reliant on fewer checks and balances and a greater trust in churches to do the right thing.
"We have been told the end justifies the means even if the means require compromise," Rice said.
Messengers cast written ballots and the results are expected to be announced by the end of Tuesday afternoon.
Tuesday afternoon will feature votes on the most significant decisions at this SBC annual meeting. The SBC presidential election is scheduled for 3:10 p.m. CT. A 3:45 p.m. CT session will feature the appeals of three churches ousted from the SBC, Saddleback Church in California, Fern Creek Baptist Church in Kentucky and Freedom Church in Florida.
At 5 p.m. CT, the SBC Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force will present its report to the messengers and ask for approval to continue its work for another year.
Christians are commanded to dwell on and develop a taste for the good in the world, SBC President Bart Barber told about 12,000 messengers gathered at the denomination's annual convention Tuesday in New Orleans.
"In fact, a good sense of Christian taste and love for the beautiful things empowers you to acknowledge the ugly things without losing hope," Barber said. "Even when the ugly is all around you, Jesus empowers you to be able to see the beautiful things and to dwell upon them."
Barber's presidential address comes ahead of a scheduled vote for SBC president Tuesday afternoon in which Barber, a Texas pastor, will seek reelection. He is facing a challenge from Georgia pastor Mike Stone.
Referencing Louis Armstrong, Barber said, "Oh, may God help us whatever is happening around us to see the trees and roses, the wonder and beauty of our world, our churches, our family of churches and our work together."
Also in his speech, Barber made a small jab at a faction of SBC members who are seeking a constitutional amendment to exclude any church with women pastors and who have compiled a list of such churches: "If your sense of taste says, wouldn't it be beautiful if I could find some doctrinal compromise somewhere, if you've got all day to sit around and look for it ... you'll find it somewhere. ... But alongside that here's what you'll find: you'll find champions of the faith, defenders of the abused, courageous missionary-martyrs, conscientious whistleblowers..."
Referring to expected appeals Tuesday afternoon by three churches found not in "friendly cooperation" with the SBC, Barber said, "Anytime our convention parts company with a church that's no longer in cooperation, let us not be those who applaud and cheer ... instead, let us be the people who even while we sadly explain why we can no longer move forward together are unafraid to say what is beautiful about those churches."
The sermon came after Barber's mother died on Sunday. He is scheduled to preach at her funeral Friday.
Tuesday, Barber told a story about his mother seeing the "beauty" in a family who needed help.
"She learned to see the beauty in the people around her and because of that, she changed people's lives," Barber said. "... There is so much beauty around us. Keep looking, Southern Baptists. Keep looking."
Southern Baptists will this week consider resolutions -- expressions of "opinion or concern" -- on topics ranging from women in ministry to gender-affirming health care.
Resolutions that have passed through a committee and will be presented to about 12,000 messengers in New Orleans for a vote include:
A resolution on artificial intelligence that says Baptists "must proactively engage and shape these emerging technologies" and that "God alone has the power to create life."
A resolution on immigration that asks government leaders "to provide clear guidance for immigrants and asylum seekers regarding border policies."
A resolution on women "fulfilling the Great Commission" that says pastors should equip women in their congregations for the work of ministry and that commits the SBC to "cultivating an environment ... where women are fully respected, valued, and mobilized as co-laborers for the fulfillment of Christ's Great Commission."
A resolution on the office of bishop, elder and pastor that encourages churches "to uphold all the biblical qualifications that the New Testament requires for all those who would hold either office of bishop/elder/pastor or deacon."
A resolution opposing gender-affirming health care, calling such care "spiritually destructive."
Resolutions are non-binding, but express the opinion of the messengers gathered at this year's convention.
In addition, messengers, the voting delegates of the Southern Baptist Convention, are slated to vote on an amendment to enshrine in the SBC's constitution a prohibition on women pastors.
News from Monday:Southern Baptists to vote on measure enshrining ban on women pastors at annual meeting
Three major items to watch for:Women pastors, abuse reform, presidential election: What to know about 2023 SBC meeting
Key decisions on abuse reform:The SBC embarked on sexual abuse reforms last year. What's at stake at 2023 meeting?