When Eli Withers, associate pastor at Harrisonburg Baptist Church in Virginia, found out she was on the infamous list of female pastors a leader in the Southern Baptist Convention circulated in March 2023, she found herself feeling “a little pissed and a little proud.” Her church felt the same way.
There was confusion when the church first heard news of the list. Like many churches included on the list, they hadn’t considered themselves part of the SBC for a long time and were unaware they were affiliated with the SBC at all. What followed the confusion was anger.
Katelyn Belcher, who grew up at HBC, was ordained there in 2019 and has served as minister of youth there since 2010, also was pictured on the list next to Eli. In addition to her concern for Eli, she felt like her privacy had been hugely violated, saying, “None of us asked to be on that list, or to have our picture and our church highlighted in that crazy way.”
Eli Withers and Katelyn Belcher
Harrisonburg didn’t like the idea of anyone telling them what they could or couldn’t do. After all, HBC has a long history of supporting women in ministry. They’ve had female deacons for more than 50 years, have regularly invited women to share the pulpit, have ordained women and have employed women with the title “pastor” for years. Both Withers and Belcher regularly preach and are met with overwhelming support.
So, instead of waiting for the SBC to decide how to “handle them,” the church took matters into its own hands. Their first action was to change Belcher’s title to “youth pastor.” They wanted to make it abundantly clear that all women in ministry, like her, are pastors.
This action “was so affirming not just for Katelyn, but for all the women in the church, the women in ministry, and all the women who have come before,” Withers said. For Belcher, not only did this decision affirm her work as a pastor, it also strengthened her resolve that it was time for the church to make a change and disaffiliate from the SBC.
After two difficult churchwide meetings, Harrisonburg Baptist Church voted to disaffiliate from the SBC prior to the SBC annual meeting last June. As Withers pointed out, “The SBC isn’t doing anything new, they aren’t going to back pedal, and it is way past time for churches to disaffiliate from them.”
While a few members of HBC expressed logistical concern for what it would mean to officially disaffiliate from the SBC, both Withers and Belcher felt nothing but encouragement, support and protection from their church. When the disaffiliation vote passed by a landslide, no one who had initial reservations left the church or got publicly upset about it.
In fact, the vote to disaffiliate brought the church together in a new way. Organized by one of Belchers youth, on the day of the vote, Harrisonburg Baptist Church was full of pink T-shirts with the words, “We Stand with Katelyn and Eli. #femalepastors.”
Belcher expressed how much it meant to feel that incredible support and love. She believes that moment always will be a highlight of her ministry career.
But it wasn’t just the youth who wanted to show their support. Infrequent attenders and church members who had moved away poured into the church to vocalize their support. One couple traveled all the way from New York to be included in the vote. It was a big moment in the church’s history to officially disaffiliate from the SBC, and people wanted to make it clear how excited they were.
“When your back is against the wall, to know that other good people are aware of your suffering and care about it means everything,”
“I knew they loved and supported us, but that they were willing to do something about it really meant so much to me,” Belcher said.
The church’s vote to disaffiliate brought people together outside the church too. Fredericksburg Baptist Church in Fredericksburg, Va., sent HBC a letter of affirmation, acknowledging the difficulty of what they were going through. They also wrote personal letters to Belcher and Withers vocalizing their support.
“When your back is against the wall, to know that other good people are aware of your suffering and care about it means everything,” Belcher explained.
Withers received text messages, phones calls and letters of encouragement from friends and colleagues she hadn’t heard from in years. The incredible support she received from her church, from Fredericksburg and from friends made all the difference to her.
“I don’t think people realize the significant impact their encouragement has,” she said. “That’s what carries you along.”
As the women look toward the future, they are filled with hope, gratitude and pride in their church. Young women like their daughters, nieces and others have bright futures because of their exposure to female leadership and because they have seen what supporting women in ministry looks like.
Harrisonburg’s inclusion on the SBC list did not pull them down. In fact, they are stronger than ever.
“Something that could have torn us apart didn’t even come close,” Belcher said.
Hannah Brown is a student at Baylor University’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary in Waco, Texas.
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I’m one of the female pastors on the SBC’s hit list | Opinion by Carlisle Davidhizar
How dare they publish that list | Opinion by Arthur Wright Jr.