ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) 鈥� Thousands of overwhelmingly voted Wednesday to advance a formal ban on women pastors in the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, sending a clear message that men alone should preach to these conservative evangelical congregations.
The amendment would tighten existing restrictions in the Southern Baptist Convention, which already has a faith statement opposing women pastors.
The vote was 6,028 to 2,026 鈥� a 3-to-1 margin 鈥� which easily exceeded the required two-thirds majority. It will require a similar two-thirds vote at next year’s meeting to become part of the constitution.
The two-day meeting concluded Wednesday after bringing more than 11,000 delegates, or messengers, to a cavernous convention center in Orlando, Florida.
Typical of the SBC鈥檚 annual meetings, the gathering carries the feel of a town hall with a cast of thousands. It mixes worship and sermons with numerous motions and resolutions governed by parliamentary procedure, where the sacred and the arcane are debated with equal fervor. A debate Wednesday over the location of a future SBC annual meeting took longer than the debate over women pastors.
Albert Mohler, who sponsored the amendment on women pastors, said it addressed a defining issue.
鈥淭his is an opportunity for Southern Baptists to speak in truth, in unity, in conviction,鈥� said Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a great line that divides liberal and biblical evangelicalism, and you can see it on this very issue,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he trajectory of liberal denominations is clear.鈥�
There was only brief debate 鈥� and none of it contained support for women pastors.
The sole opposition came from South Carolina pastor Doug Mize. He said the measure wasn鈥檛 necessary because the denomination already has a mechanism to expel churches with women in senior pastoral positions, and it鈥檚 done so multiple times.
鈥淲hat we have already works,鈥� he said.
Southern Baptist leaders cite biblical passages that limit pastors to men. Advocates for women鈥檚 ministry cite biblical passages that proclaim men and women as equal under God and where women are called to proclaim the gospel.
Southern Baptists can expel churches
While the SBC can’t tell its self-governing churches what to do, from convention membership, declaring them not in 鈥渇riendly cooperation.鈥�
There鈥檚 already wide agreement within the denomination that its belief statement 鈥� the Baptist Faith and Message 鈥� rejects the appointment of women as senior pastors who lead churches. Debate has persisted regarding churches with women serving in assistant pastoral or preaching roles.
鈥淲e need constitutional clarity on this issue,鈥� Mohler said. He had a lead role in drafting the Baptist Faith and Message, which passed in 2000.
The amendment’s language requires the exclusion of any church that acts 鈥渢o affirm, appoint, or endorse a woman serving in the office or function of a pastor/elder/overseer, specifically preaching to the assembled congregation.鈥�
Churches were removed in recent years for having women pastors
In the previous three annual meetings, a majority of representatives voted to amend the SBC constitution to ban churches with women in any pastoral role. But only in one of those years did the measure get the needed two-thirds supermajority, so the matter languished.
The denomination has expelled churches with women in senior pastoral roles, including the large of California, on the grounds of an existing clause in the constitution barring churches whose 鈥渇aith and practice鈥� was out of harmony with the denomination鈥檚.
The SBC debate stands in stark contrast to the practices of numerous historic, more liberal Protestant denominations, which ordain women and have opened their to them. Practices vary widely in conservative, evangelical denominations 鈥� particularly in Pentecostal and charismatic circles, where prominent women pastors include , head of President Donald Trump鈥檚 White House Faith Office.
But other, more conservative Protestant groups do not ordain women as clergy. And the Catholic and Orthodox churches 鈥� the world鈥檚 two largest Christian communions 鈥� ordain only men to the priesthood.
Some Baptists disagree on women’s roles
The organization Baptist Women in Ministry, which works with female ministers in various Baptist denominations, issued a statement lamenting the vote.
鈥淲e express our solidarity with the women in ministry who have been harmed by this vote, the hateful rhetoric and propaganda leading up to the vote, and the damaging theology the vote represents,鈥� it said. 鈥淲omen in ministry deserve affirmation, respect, and the opportunity to follow God鈥檚 call. We are heartbroken that they have been denied those fundamental freedoms in the process of this vote.鈥�
Baptists say the Bible places high value on both men and women as created in the image of God while assigning them different roles in churches and homes. The Baptist Faith and Message not only asserts a male-only office of pastor but also the 鈥渟ervant leadership鈥� of husbands over wives.
鈥淚 realize that in our egalitarian society, that runs against the grain,鈥� Mohler said afterward. But he said Southern Baptists have a 鈥減ricelessly high view of the role of women and even the necessity of the gifts and contribution and work of women in every sphere of life.鈥�
Resolutions passed on immigration and political violence
Later Wednesday, SBC messengers approved a resolutions denouncing political violence and hateful speech. They approved another that called for humane treatment of immigrants while affirming the legitimacy of immigration enforcement and rejecting nativistic and dehumanizing rhetoric.
They also approved a resolution denouncing antisemitic violence and conspiracy theories, notably those arising during Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
At the same time, the resolution affirms Southern Baptists鈥� hope for Jews鈥� conversion to Christianity. In 1996, an SBC resolution called for the evangelization of Jews, prompting major Jewish leaders to call it a setback for interfaith relations.
On Tuesday, delegates elected Florida to be its next president. He won 58% of the votes over South Carolina pastor Josh Powell.
Rice supported the amendment barring churches with women pastors, as did Powell and the SBC’s departing president, Clint Pressley.
Rice, senior pastor of Calvary Church in Clearwater, drew support from advocacy groups such as the Center for Baptist Leadership, which have argued SBC leadership has gone 鈥渨oke鈥� on issues ranging from to gender to immigration.
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