Any controversy linked to the Rev. Rick “Purpose Driven Life” Warren is, by definition, going to be a big news story. I mean, that mega-bestseller has been translated into 100-plus languages and is so omnipresent that it’s most famous quote ended up in a Marvel Comic Universe movie.
Meanwhile, any controversy that involves conservatives opposing the ordination of “moderate” or “progressive” Baptist women is going to be a big news story, because — for most mainstream journalists — that is a good vs. evil story, and that’s that.
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.
Thus, the AP report noted:
When Southern Baptists last updated their official statement of belief — The Baptist Faith and Message — in 2000, they added this clause: “While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.”
The five churches ousted for having women as pastors “have been valued, cooperating churches for many years, and this decision was not made lightly,” Committee Chairman Jared Wellman said in a statement. “However, we remain committed to upholding the theological convictions of the SBC and maintaining unity among its cooperating churches.”
The key is that, for Southern Baptist leaders, this whole discussion centers on issues of doctrine and church “polity,” or church government.
Ever since the great SBC civil war of the late 1970s and early ‘80s, Southern Baptists have been trying to define the doctrinal boundaries of the convention’s life at the national, state and regional association levels. The mainstream press coverage of the Saddleback decision noted, with good cause, that other churches have been cut loose when they clashed with SBC decisions/teachings against racism and sexual abuse.
Is there tension in national SBC life right now between an aggressive, social-media savvy right wing and the conservative mainstream? Yes, there is. Did that affect the Saddleback decision? That is possible.
However, it’s safe to say that many mainstream conservative Southern Baptists raised their eyebrows extra high when they read this language in The New York Times report.
… the Southern Baptist leadership’s ejection of such a high-profile member church underlines the denomination’s internal struggles with gender, sexuality, abuse, politics and race, including criticisms from an energetic right flank that the group is drifting to the “woke” left. The convention also removed several other churches over their placement of women in certain leadership roles, as well as a Florida church over its handling of a sex abuse case.
What is missing from that edgy summary? Well, there is no mention of decades of debates about, yes, doctrine and Baptist polity. You know, the main issues in this discussion.
So, what happens next?
I believe the Saddleback case will come up, again, at the national level and there may be actions at the state convention level, as well as in the church’s regional association.
It’s important that this took place in a megachurch, the kind of church in which men and women fill many different kinds of roles in large, diverse, at the staff level. Also, the idea of husbands and wives serving as “co-pastors” is quote common in many Black churches, especially Pentecostal flocks. Are there ordained women in any of the SBC’s majority Black congregations?
SBC leaders have stressed that Saddleback leaders can appeal this decision.
On social media, Warren noted (in a tweet that appears to have been taken down):
Friends worldwide: I'm so touched by your love!
Kay & I love you back!
We'll respond to #SBC in OUR time & way
thru direct channels:
Our newsletters to 600,000 ch leaders
Daily Hope radio broadcast
1 million PDC alumni pastors list
11 million social media followers
Luke 23:43
Warren knows a thing or two about SBC polity, even if his megachurch never had the word “Baptist” in its name.
Stay tuned. Coverage will, I am sure, continue.
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FIRST IMAGE: The Rev. Rick Warren, preaching at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif. Photo drawn from Saddleback media.