Southern Baptist Convention ousts Saddleback Church over woman pastor

[Jilly_in_VA]

Southern Baptist Convention leadership disfellowshipped Saddleback Church from the convention on Tuesday, concluding a long-running debate about one of the largest and most well-known churches in the denomination.

The California megachurch’s stance on a woman serving as head co-pastor led the convention's Executive Committee to consider a recommendation for the SBC to break with Saddleback.

The executive committee approved similar recommendations for five other churches, one for a sex abuse-related issue and four others for women serving in senior pastor roles. There is a mechanism for the churches to appeal the decisions.

The convention's Executive Committee is comprised of about 30 staff and an 86-member board of elected representatives and manages denomination business outside the Nashville-based SBC's annual meeting. It met for a major two-day meeting in Nashville on Monday and Tuesday.

https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/nation/2023/02/21/southern-baptist-convention-saddleback-church-women-pastors/11316198002/

So behind the times! The early church had women leaders. As a female UMC pastor said to me, "What do these guys THINK Lydia and Priscilla and all those women were doing? They sure weren't in the kitchen making coffee!"