The quest for conformity in opposing women in ministry is so strong in the Southern Baptist Convention that a state convention executive director has resigned after his own church was expelled from the SBC.
Randy Covington resigned as executive director and treasurer of the Alaska Baptist Resource Network Feb. 27 after issuing an apology for his criticism of the SBC Credentials Committee. Covington does not personally support women in ministry but earlier said his church should have been allowed autonomy — a key Baptist distinctive.
Randy Covington
When Rabbit Creek Church in Anchorage was expelled from the SBC by the SBC Executive Committee Feb. 18, Covington told Baptist Press: “I, as a pastor, have always valued, as Baptists historically have, the autonomy of the local church. And I feel that this is an overreach.”
He added of his church: “They do not have egalitarian views. Their positive impact on the community of Anchorage cannot be overlooked.”
That statement obviously didn’t sit well with some SBC leaders and pastors as nine days later Covington announced he would step down seven months earlier than his planned retirement date.
“I want to take this opportunity to sincerely apologize for a statement I made to Baptist Press,” he wrote. “I deeply regret the impact it may have had on our community. I sincerely regret the statement, ‘They do not have egalitarian views,’ which was a personal opinion and should not have been made on behalf of the Alaska Baptist Resource Network. I allowed my frustration and emotional bias toward my church, Rabbit Creek Church, to cloud my better judgment.”
This saga began when the Credentials Committee recommended to the Executive Committee that Rabbit Creek Church has a “faith and practice which does not closely identify with the convention’s adopted statement of faith, as demonstrated by the egalitarian beliefs publicly expressed by its leadership.”
Those “egalitarian beliefs” are based on the fact Rabbit Creek Senior Pastor Mark T. Goodman and four other staff members signed Baptist Women in Ministry’s “Open Letter to Baptist Women” supporting women in church leadership and asserting that “Jesus did not place any limits on women’s roles.”
The church also employs Lori Pepiton — a female — as children and families pastor, but that was not the reason the Credentials Committee recommended expulsion. It was purely the signatures on the BWIM letter.
Rabbit Creek is a church of 568 members that averaged 974 in attendance in 2023 — huge by Alaska standards.
Ironically, Covington does not agree with the BWIM statement about Jesus affirming women in ministry, he said. “I do not support the Baptist Women in Ministry platform or its vision, values, materials or events. … Please know my love for Alaska Baptist churches and their pastors is genuine and deep.
“As your executive director, I am a faithful steward of your trust and the resources under my responsibility. My desire is to promote cooperation and unity among our churches.”
Covington has served more than 30 years in Southern Baptist leadership. He was elected ABRN executive director in 2016 and before that served 22 years previously with the SBC International Mission Board.
Enforcing doctrinal purity against women preaching or serving in positions with the title “pastor” has overshadowed the denomination’s reckoning with sexual abuse in its churches. An effort to pass a constitutional amendment enshrining these complementarian beliefs narrowly failed last year, and some pastors intend to bring it back for consideration at this summer’s annual meeting.
The Alaska Baptist Resource Network is one of the smallest of the state and regional conventions that cooperate with the SBC. Because of its size, the convention is extraordinarily dependent on financing and other support from the national body.
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