Southern Baptists make it clear, again, that they don’t want women pastors

The Southern Baptist Convention voted on Wednesday to advance a proposed ban on women pastors, which, if they vote again on the matter next year, would bring Southern Baptists into the realm of wisdom on gender equality akin to the Catholic, Orthodox and Mormon faiths, which already prohibit women from being ordained as ministers.

It’s not like the Southern Baptists are pushing back any tidal waves of momentum in the other direction here; the convention, in 2000, adopted a statement of faith holding that only men can be pastors in their churches.

This one just seems to be beating the dead horse.

“This is an opportunity for Southern Baptists to speak in truth, in unity, in conviction,” said Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, who sponsored the resolution adopted today.

“There’s a great line that divides liberal and biblical evangelicalism, and you can see it on this very issue. The trajectory of liberal denominations is clear,” Mohler said.

Damn liberals – the United Methodists, Presbyterians, Evangelical Lutherans, Episcopalians.

For that matter, Donald Trump – he has Paula White-Cain, a televangelist from Florida, as the leader of his White House Faith Office.

The advocates for today’s move within the Southern Baptist leadership cite biblical passages that they say limit senior pastoral roles to men.

The other churches that refuse to ordain women follow that path as well.

The patriarchy is adept at the narrow reading of passages that perpetuate its power status.

The group Baptist Women in Ministry, which works with Baptist denominations where women are welcomed into leadership roles, issued a statement lamenting the vote.

“We 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,” the group said.

“Women in ministry deserve affirmation, respect, and the opportunity to follow God’s call. We are heartbroken that they have been denied those fundamental freedoms in the process of this vote.”