Rick Warren thought he was going to be late for our appointment, but with good reason. The best-known pastor in America had been to the grocery store. He knows most of the workers there by name, but this checker was…
Complementarianism harms men and women both
What no one seems to be talking about is the harm the Southern Baptist Convention is doing to both women and men. Demands to define a strict gender binary and assign specific roles by gender are causing harm to every…
The influence of celebrity culture on the court, in the church and in journalism
While the Denver Nuggets defeated the Miami Heat to win the NBA title for the first time in their 47-year history last week, Southern Baptist complementarians defeated the egalitarians to win the title of “pastor” exclusively for men for the…
Picking up the pieces of the SBC
An email pen pal wrote me this weekend to point out the irony of the Southern Baptist Convention’s actions last week against women in church leadership: “Do we realize a 20-year-old boy in college can pastor a Baptist church? But…
Anti-egalitarian forces make clean sweep at SBC annual meeting
Anti-egalitarian forces in the Southern Baptist Convention made a clean sweep of their agenda to exclude women from serving as pastors of any kind in SBC churches. In the process, they affirmed the expulsion of the denomination’s largest church and…
Saddleback and Fern Creek churches face off against Al Mohler at SBC meeting
By appearances, the deck was stacked against Linda Barnes Popham and Rick Warren before they ever took the microphone at the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting Tuesday, June 13. Just an hour or so before, the nearly 13,000 messengers to…
In irregular move, SBC Executive Committee puts forward a proposal it doesn’t want to pass
The Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee doesn’t favor a proposed constitutional amendment banning female pastors but wants messengers to the SBC annual meeting to vote on it anyway. During a June 12 meeting in New Orleans one day before the…
Female pastors: Appointed or apostate? Southern Baptists decide
What roles should women fill in Southern Baptist churches? Worship leader? Youth minister? Senior pastor? A group of Southern Baptists is convinced women who feel called to be pastors must have misunderstood God’s voice. These Southern Baptists will try to…
Rick Warren apologizes to women for his previous views on church leadership
In the runup to the biggest theological fight of his life this week, Rick Warren has issued a public apology to “Christian women.” “My biggest regret in 53 years of ministry is that I didn’t do my own personal exegesis…