The SBTC Reaffirmed Complementarity… For Now.

A summary and commentary on the major decision from the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention 2024 annual meeting.

Last night, I returned home after participating as a messenger at the 2024 Southern Baptists of Texas Convention (SBTC) annual meeting. This year it was in Houston, TX, at Sagemont Church, and I finished the drive back to rural East Texas just before my wife and kids went to bed. When I got home, after spending some time with my youngest son, talking about which Spider-Man Lego sets he’d like for his upcoming birthday and/or Christmas gifts, my wife asked me, “How did it go?” When I began explaining the major decision on the floor of this year’s meeting, it only took about 30 seconds for her to ask me to cut to the chase and get to the point.

However, the lengthy and intricate explanation (which my wife did not appreciate) is necessary to understand the decision. And it’s important to note that this is not my fault. It is the fault of those who strategized in such a convoluted way to somehow get around the clear will of the messengers.

First, let’s understand the background. Then, we can get to the actual vote on the floor this year. And last, I will offer some commentary for those on each side of the issue.

Can we get some clarity here?

2019

In 2019, the Credentials Committee of the SBTC requested clarity from the Executive Board on an interpretation of the word “pastor” in the SBTC constitution (Article IV, Section 1, sub-point d). According to the SBTC constitution, “The Convention will only allow a church to affiliate is the church… affirms the office of pastor to be limited to men.” Of course, this constitutional language is merely an echo of Article VI of the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, which concludes, “While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor/elder/overseer is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.”

The question raised by the Credentials Committee in 2019 was focused on the distinction of pastoral responsibility among any given church. Most churches have a “senior pastor,” but many also have additional pastors with their area of responsibility written into their various titles (such as “executive pastor,” “youth pastor,” or “children’s pastor”). The specific question at hand was, “Does the limitation in our constitution refer only to the senior pastor?” While no official statement was announced to the public, the Executive Board did produce interpretive guidelines for the Credentials Committee that stipulated a narrow view of the limitation - namely that the limitation in the constitution is only limiting the office of the senior pastor.

2022

These conversations continued among various committees and others in the know, but the ordinary pastors and church members of SBTC churches seem to have had little or no knowledge of this narrow interpretative practice. As a matter of fact, it was (and still is) a point of confusion and frustration among at least some SBTC pastors and churches… How could there be any churches affiliated with the SBTC that affirm female pastors (of any sort) when our constitution (and more importantly, the Bible) so clearly prohibits it?

So, it was no surprise that the messengers to the 2022 SBTC annual meeting in Corpus Christi, TX, voted overwhelmingly in favor of a motion from Ben Wright (senior pastor of Cedar Pointe Baptist Church). Ben’s motion was, “that the SBTC, for purposes of affiliation, interpret the language in the SBTC Constitution, Article IV, Section 1 ‘affirms the office of pastor be limited to men’ to refer not only to the titles of senior pastor or lead pastor but to any role designated by the noun ‘pastor’ with the proviso that this new interpretation take effect regarding existing churches January 1, 2024.” (emphasis added). The motion was approved by more than two-thirds of the messengers present, but this action set the stage for an ongoing struggle between the messengers and the leadership of the SBTC (i.e., executive board and staff).

You can view the minutes from the 2022 annual meeting HERE, and Ben’s motion is recorded on page 45. A friendly amendment was received from the Committee on Order of Business (recorded on page 47), and the motion as amended is what I have cited above.

2023

In 2023, the SBTC annual meeting was in Euless, TX. During the course of business, the Executive Committee (a small group from among the Executive Board) made a motion to extend the date of implementation on the approved motion from 2022. They recommended that we wait another year. There was general interest and a charitable desire to give some SBTC churches further opportunity to move into alignment with the convention’s constitution, so the messengers approved the motion to have the 2022 interpretation “take effect… January 1, 2025.”

The leadership from the stage (i.e., SBTC president Todd Kaunitz, senior pastor of New Beginnings Baptist Church in Longview, TX, and the EC representative) made an effort to assure messengers that there was no desire to overturn or neglect the motion that was approved in 2022. This measure of delaying implementation was merely a charitable extension to some churches in the SBTC. However, it was not apparent just which churches (if any) might have requested such an extension. Are there any SBTC churches that have female “pastors” of some kind right now who are working toward a better label for such roles? There are certainly SBTC churches with female pastors who have no intention of changing that label (Fielder Church is an example).

You can view the minutes from the 2023 annual meeting HERE, and the Executive Committee’s motion is recorded on page 45.

No, we did not amend the SBTC constitution.

All of the background above leads us to the SBTC annual meeting on November 11 and 12 of 2024. The first day of the meeting included a short session for business (as usual), and no motions came from the floor. However, the time for motions came on the second day at 9am, and Rob Collingsworth (Director of Strategic Relationships at Criswell College and member of the Leadership Team at The Baptist Review) immediately called a point of order to dispute the propriety of the motion that had been approved by the messengers during the 2022 annual meeting. A point of order is an appeal from the floor regarding some perceived parlimentary error.

As the argument unfolded and debate ensued, it became clear that there were partisans on the stage. The lawyer representing the SBTC (Barry Arrington) and the parliamentarian (Al Gage), who was hired to assist and advise the convention president (Danny Forshee, senior pastor of Great Hills Baptist Church), were each asked different questions during the floor discussion, and they both used the occasion to make arguments in favor of the point of order.

The point of order itself, from Mr. Collingsworth, was based on a claim that the 2022 motion was an ongoing breach of the SBTC constitution because it was a “defacto amendment.” If one proposes an amendment to the constitution, there is a different procedure for that, and the 2022 motion did not comply with the procedure for an amendment. Both Arrington and Gage stated that Collingsworth’s claim was true and his point of order valid, but this was the very debate on the floor.

Ben Wright was present to argue against the point of order (and for the propriety of his own 2022 motion), claiming that the approved motion was an interpretation of the constitution and not an amendment to it. In fact, Wright was able to ask Gage (the parliamentarian who also advised the president of the 2022 SBTC annual meeting) if he found fault in the motion when it was made two years ago. Gage was obligated to answer that he did not, and that he had himself ruled it “in order” at that time.

Furthermore, Wright and others argued that the motion was approved as an interpretation by the overwhelming majority of the messengers present in 2022. As Wright concluded, “No one is arguing against the substance of the motion,” which is the position of most SBTC churches represented at the annual meeting. The SBTC is a confessional convention of churches, and the constitution merely clarifies what is claimed in the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 - “While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor/elder/overseer is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.”

When discussion on the point of order was over (lasting about 10-12 minutes in all), the messengers present voted again by a two-thirds majority to reject the point of order and reaffirm the original motion from 2022. There was no applause or noise of victory. The messengers of the SBTC did not seem excited to vote on this matter yet again. Rather, it seems to me that most SBTC pastors and churches would be very glad to put this debate to bed.

Please, let’s put this argument to bed.

Two times now in the last three years, the messengers of the SBTC annual meeting have made clear the position of the majority of the churches. It’s also important to note that the messengers have done this in the face of opposition from SBTC leaders (i.e., presidents, executive committee representatives, a lawyer, and a parlimentarian). While many of those in the seat of influence have pressed the convention away from this position, the messengers have tenaciously held the line.

It would seem insincere and even antagonistic for anyone among the SBTC leadership to bring this matter up for debate again, and it would be appalling if there were to be other attempts to reject or overturn the will of the messengers through some other means besides public vote.

Beginning January of 2025, any churches affiliated with the SBTC with female “pastors” of any kind have a few options.

One, you can cease using the noun “pastor” to describe anyone other than biblically qualified men (1 Tim. 3; Titus 1).

Two, you can begin making progress toward this stated goal - teaching, praying, and having conversations among your church. No church is perfect, and moves toward order and health can take time, but movement is the aim… not accommodation.

Three, you can withdraw your church affiliation with the SBTC. A separation does not have to mean hatred or heresy. We both ought to be honest about our disagreement, and the messengers of the SBTC have made it perfectly clear that we only want to partner with churches who agree with us on this point.

Let’s stop debating what we state in our confession, what we affirm in our constitution, and the meaning we have interpreted (twice now) in the public forum of the annual meeting.

If you want to affirm females as pastors in your church, then there is another convention in Texas that will gladly cooperate with you. While the Southern Baptists of Texas were reaffirming (on Nov. 12) our position on the limitation of the pastoral office to qualified men, the Texas Baptists were celebrating the fact that female pastors is no barrier to collaboration for them.