Texas Baptists elected an ordained female clergywoman as convention president this week for the first time ever.
Debbie Potter, children’s pastor at Trinity Baptist Church in San Antonio, was chosen as president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas in a race with Kevin Burrow, pastor of First Baptist Church of Eastland, Texas. The vote was 430 to 320.
The BGCT is the largest and oldest of the two state Baptist conventions in Texas that relate to the Southern Baptist Convention. The other, Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, was formed in 1998 by conservatives who thought the BGCT was not falling in line with the SBC’s so-called “conservative resurgence.”
In the three decades since that split, the role of women in ministry has been a primary dividing line between the two state conventions. The SBTC adamantly declares women are not biblically qualified to serve as pastors — even though two weeks ago messengers to its annual meeting were not allowed to vote on three motions that attempted to disfellowship churches that allow women to serve in pastoral roles.
In the three decades since that split, the role of women in ministry has been a primary dividing line between the two state conventions.
Those motions targeted Fielder Church in Arlington, which previously used the word “pastor” for men and women serving on staff but now has changed all such staff titles to “shepherd.”
In recent years, the BGCT’s commitment to women in ministry has been shaky, with efforts made — and rejected — that would align the state group more completely with the SBC’s no-women-as-pastors policy.
Both state conventions prohibit ordination of LGBTQ Christians. The BGCT has expelled numerous churches for allowing ordination of gay or lesbian members and for allowing same-sex weddings. This year, some messengers advocated for two motions that would have sanctioned Baylor University as too friendly to the LGBTQ community and would have required all religion and theology faculty at Baptist-supported schools to affirm the BGCT’s G2 statement of faith.
The first motion was defeated and the second ruled out of order.
Two other women previously served as BGCT president. Joy Fenner, a former missionary and longtime executive-director treasurer of Woman’s Missionary Union of Texas, was BGCT president in 2007-2008. Kathy Hillman, director of Baptist collections and library advancement at Baylor University and director of Baylor’s Keston Center for Religion, Politics and Society, was BGCT president in 2014-2015.
According to a new annual report by Baptist Women in Ministry, there are 4,915 churches in the BGCT and only 43 (0.9%) have female pastors or co-pastors. Also according to this report, Texas Baptist churches are known to have ordained only 18 women to ministry from 2022 through 2024.
Potter is a volunteer with Child Protective Services in San Antonio and has ministered to children and families since 1997, serving six years at Parkhills Baptist Church in San Antonio before joining the Trinity Baptist Church staff. She was licensed to the gospel ministry at Parkhills in 1998 and ordained by Trinity in 2005.
After completing her undergraduate degree from Southern Nazarene University and a master’s degree from the School of Education at the University of Texas at San Antonio, she earned a Ph.D. in educational leadership from Andrews University.
She serves as adjunct professor at Baptist University of the Américas, where she has mentored international students and preached in chapel. She is a trustee of Buckner International, and she served the past year as first vice president of the BGCT.