The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) has recently cut ties with Saddleback Church after ordaining four women as pastors. Saddleback Church is reportedly one of the largest churches in the United States.
SBC Expels SaddleBack and 4 Other Churches
The Christian Post reported on Tuesday that the SBC Executive Committee approved a recommendation from the SBC Credentials Committee to label five churches as "not in friendly cooperation with the Southern Baptist Convention" due to their decision to permit women to hold the office of pastor.
In addition to Saddleback, the following churches were also expelled for ordaining women to the position of pastor: New Faith Mission Ministry in Griffin, Georgia; St. Timothy's Christian Baptist Church in Baltimore, Maryland; Calvary Baptist Church in Jackson, Mississippi; and Fern Creek Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky; all of these churches were in the Southern Baptist Convention.
At the SBC's Annual Conference, which will take place in New Orleans, Louisiana, from Jun. 13-14, the congregations can appeal against their expulsion. In May of 2021, Saddleback caused a stir when it ordained three women, Cynthia Petty, Katie Edwards, and Liz Puffer, to the pastor position within the church. The action caused the megachurch to conflict with the Baptist Faith and Message from 2000, which is the definitive set of church laws for the Southern Baptist Convention and stipulates that only men may hold the role of pastor.
Saddleback Church, founded in 1980 in California by pastor and New York Times best-selling author Rick Warren, had expanded to become the second-largest Southern Baptist church in the United States, planting multiple churches around the country and four campuses in other countries.
Also Read: Wife of Saddleback Church Leader Becomes Newest Pastor Amid SBC Misgivings on Women Clergy
SBC's Decision of Expulsion
According to AP News, the convention's Executive Committee vote brings to a head the mounting friction between the nation's largest Protestant denomination, which officially rejects women as pastors, and a congregation whose tale has been one of the significant church-growth stories of modern times.
The committee mentioned that Saddleback Church has "a female teaching pastor working in the position of pastor," referring to Stacie Wood, the wife of Andy Wood, the current Saddleback Church lead pastor. Yet the scandal did not start until 2021 when Warren ordained three women to pastor. This sparked conversations within the denomination about the possibility of expelling the megachurch.
As per Baptist Press, the decision was made a little over six months after the founding pastor Rick Warren stepped down from his position at the church and was succeeded by Andy Wood and his wife, Stacie. Andy serves as the church's senior pastor, while Stacie is a teaching pastor, even though they are not co-pastors of the congregation.
The Credentials Committee stated that the church's lack of faith and practice that closely aligns with the Baptist Faith and Message was the reason for the removal of cooperating status. Article VI of the Baptist Faith and Message states, "while both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the pastor's office is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.
At the 2022 Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting in Anaheim, Warren stated to messengers that he believed there was a difference between the office of pastor and the gift of pastor. However, he declined to explain this difference in his comments from the Convention floor and referred messengers to his mailing list instead.
Related Article: Rick Warren's Saddleback Church Ordains Its First Female Pastors, Gets Mixed Reactions
