Thus, it’s no surprise that there has been quite a bit of ink about the vote by the Southern Baptist Convention’s executive committee declaring that the giant Saddleback Church, founded by Warren, is no longer “in friendly cooperation” with America’s largest non-Catholic flock.
Yes, that’s SBC lingo. We are dealing with a “convention” of autonomous congregations, not a “denomination,” and it’s primary source of national giving/income is called the “Cooperative Program.” So, has Saddleback been “ousted,” “expelled” or “kicked out” of SBC life for good? We will see.
GetReligion readers will not be surprised that we ended up discussing all of these issues during this week’s “Crossroads” podcast (CLICK HERE to tune that in). The good news, in this case, is that the most important stories about this case were written by experienced religion-beat pros. Here’s the top of the Associated Press report:
The Southern Baptist Convention … ousted its second-largest congregation — Saddleback Church, the renowned California megachurch founded by pastor and best-selling author Rick Warren — for having a woman pastor.
The vote by the convention’s Executive Committee culminates growing tension between the nation’s largest Protestant denomination — which officially opposes women as pastors — and a congregation whose story has been one of the biggest church-growth successes of modern times.
The committee cited Saddleback’s having “a female teaching pastor functioning in the office of pastor,” an allusion to Stacie Wood, wife of the current lead pastor of Saddleback, Andy Wood.
But the controversy began in 2021, when Warren ordained three women as pastors, prompting discussions within the denomination about possibly expelling the megachurch.
What is going on here? There are several important clues in that material.
First, this question: Why wasn’t Saddleback “disfellowshipped” three years ago? The key is in the term “teaching pastor,” a reference to the Rev. Stacie Wood being a pastor who, as a regular part of her ministry, preached to the entire congregation. Basically, this is a co-pastor role with her husband, when it comes to pulpit ministry and, trust me, Southern Baptists really care about preaching.
With that in mind, here is another key piece of that solid AP report:
Wood told The Associated Press last year that the Bible “teaches that men and women were given spiritual gifts by God.” His wife has served as teaching pastor for Saddleback.
“The church should be a place where both men and women can exercise those spiritual gifts,” Wood said. “My wife has the spiritual gift of teaching and she is really good. People often tell me she’s better than me when it comes to preaching, and I’m really glad to hear that.”
As folks say in the Bible Belt, “Them’s fightin’ words” — for some Southern Baptists. For others, the words are problematic and they are willing to say that not all female “pastors” — think counselors, chaplains, etc. — function as “senior” or preaching pastors.
Saddleback wasn’t the only congregation that was “disfellowshipped” over this issue. Women have for several decades served as “senior pastors” in many smaller, “moderate” Baptist congregations.
