As readers of Baptist News Global are aware, opponents of women in ministry often appeal to Scripture as the reason for women’s exclusion from pastoral leadership. Some well-meaning male ministers may even assert that if it were up to them,…
What my grandparents would think of the Southern Baptist Convention today
In 1998, I spent the spring and summer in Rogers, Ark., with my grandparents. I had graduated from college the year before and was floundering, so hanging out for five months with my three living grandparents was a blessing even…
Don’t be lulled by the failure of the Law Amendment
The narrow failure of the Law Amendment to receive two-thirds affirmation at the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting should not give anyone a sense that women in ministry are welcome in the SBC. Nor should this vote — or any…
Day before voting on Law Amendment, SBC removes church that is Mike Law’s neighbor
One day before the much-anticipated vote on a constitutional amendment that would clarify the Southern Baptist Convention’s rejection of women in ministry, messengers to the SBC annual meeting overwhelmingly kicked out another church for its “egalitarian” views. First Baptist Church…
The Law Amendment would force out this Georgia church, among others
Struggling against the powers that be in the Southern Baptist Convention is nothing new to Dunwoody Baptist Church in North Atlanta. In 1989 and 1990 when he ran as the last “moderate” candidate in the SBC presidential race, Daniel Vestal…
Wine, women and gospel: A perilous inerrancy
In Primitive Baptists of the Wiregrass South, author John G. Crowley writes that for those Appalachian Baptists, “the use of fermented wine, usually made by the deacons” is standard in their celebration of the Lord’s Supper, a biblical mandate they…
Texas editor says NAMB is willing to take millions from BGCT but won’t continue funding church planting partnerships
The Southern Baptist Convention North American Mission Board is happy to take money from Texas Baptists but unwilling to give money back to shared missions causes, the editor of the Texas Baptist Standard said in a May 23 editorial. In…
How Southern Baptists got ‘distracted’ from the gospel
What do you think might count as a “distraction” from the gospel? To Southern Baptist Convention presidential candidate David Allen, all the sexual abuse cases piling up against the SBC and its churches are a “distraction.” To North American Mission…
Virginia church with historic ties to SBC will vote on leaving due to Law Amendment
A Virginia church with deep historical ties to the Southern Baptist Convention will vote May 19 on a proposal to sever ties with the SBC due to the denomination’s intolerance for women serving as pastors. For decades, First Baptist Church…
The Sunday I was transfigured
Every pastor has certain Sundays they like more than others. Christ the King Sunday is my least favorite Sunday. But I love Transfiguration Sunday. That’s the Sunday that falls right before the season of Lent. It’s the Sunday that concludes…
Grace Valentine, ice cream and sources of empowerment for women in complementarian circles
After a Good Friday worship service, Anne-Tillery, a divinity school friend and I, were discussing gender roles in the church over ice cream at the local Kilwins. The night before, we had found ourselves among a sizable group of sorority…
We’re still terrified and amazed
I think I know why the women were too terrified to say anything that first Easter morning. It’s the Gospel of Mark’s year in the Lectionary, which means this Easter we were left with an unsatisfying ending to the resurrection…