While complementarians sacralize the subjugation of women, perhaps the strongest obstacles to change are the priorities of egalitarians. We’ve witnessed the muscle of complementarian men weaponizing the Bible and wielding the gospel to fortify their authority and power in the…
Denny Burk pushes back against Rick Warren’s new understanding of women in ministry
Yes, women may have preached on the Day of Pentecost, but the “office of pastor” is reserved for men, a leading spokesman for complementarian theology said in response to Rick Warren’s recent explanation about why he changed his mind on…
Scripture changed his mind on women in ministry, Rick Warren tells Russell Moore
The Great Commission is one of several scriptural reasons Rick Warren believes women are called by God to leadership in the church, he told Russell Moore in a March 8 podcast. Warren, recently retired pastor of Saddleback Church in Southern…
Want to understand why the SBC expelled its largest church? Listen to W.A. Criswell
W.A. Criswell would be so proud of the Southern Baptist Convention this week. The man who once was the spokesman for why women should not — cannot — be pastors has reached peak influence 114 years after his birth. About…
Southern Baptist Convention ousts its largest church, Saddleback, for having a woman pastor
The Southern Baptist Convention has removed its largest congregation, Saddleback Church of Lake Forest, Calif., for appointing a woman as a teaching pastor. The SBC Executive Committee, which acts on behalf of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination in-between the convention’s…
Questions to ask while pondering if Asbury is hosting a ‘true revival’
Surprise! It’s a revival! So said Thomas H. McCall, a theology professor at Asbury Theological Seminary, located adjacent to the ongoing spiritual event at Asbury University in Wilmore, Ky. “Sometimes God does what Johnathan Edwards called ‘surprising work’ and what John…
New Saddleback pastor affirms women as preachers, SBC conservatives want constitutional amendment to exclude churches that affirm women as pastors
The battle over women serving as pastors in the Southern Baptist Convention took on new heat this week when the new pastor at Saddleback Church affirmed his belief that both men and women are qualified to preach and when a…
As church staff roles evolve, the SBC is forced to define the word ‘pastor’
Sixty years ago, Baptists would have had little reason to debate the meaning of the word “pastor.” In those simpler days, “the pastor” was the primary staff leader of a congregation — the person who preached most Sundays and provided…
Southern Baptists approve sexual abuse response and debate doctrinal parameters
Southern Baptists spent their annual meeting debating how tight the doctrinal boundaries should be around the denomination’s fellowship. Sexual abusers are out. But so are members of the LGBTQ community and those who support them. Women pastors are out, although a…