Southern Baptists to vote on female pastor amendment

The national coalition of Southern Baptist churches will hold its annual meeting next week in Indianapolis, with plans to elect a new convention president and discuss alterations to the denomination’s policies. The convention will meet directly after the 2024 pastors’ conference scheduled for June 9 and 10 in the same city. The SBC is the largest Protestant denomination in the United States, with nearly 13 million members and over 45,000 affiliated churches, according to statistics gathered by Lifeway Research.

Who’s up for president? Sitting SBC President Bart Barber will not seek reelection at the 2024 meeting after reaching the limit of two consecutive one-year terms. Six candidates, including well-known evangelical speakers David Allen and Bruce Frank, are now vying to replace Barber.

What business will the convention discuss? Attendees, known as messengers, will vote to amend the convention’s constitution and end cooperation with churches with any female pastors. The measure was heavily supported during the first vote at the 2023 meeting.

The convention will also discuss funding a nonprofit to combat sexual abuse through reforms in the church. The SBC Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force may directly petition the convention for funding from the denomination’s budget. Some members have not supported funding abuse reform due to the already exorbitant legal fees from previous SBC abuse lawsuits.

The convention is also expected to vote on a resolution raising ethical concerns about in-vitro fertilization, though not outright condemning the practice. R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and the editor of WORLD Opinions, co-wrote the resolution alongside Andrew Walker, a Southern Baptist Theological Seminary professor of Christian ethics and managing editor of WORLD Opinions. The measure would reaffirm the sanctity of life and encourage the adoption of fertilized, viable embryos leftover from prior patient procedures.

SBC Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission President Brent Leatherwood recently made headlines for his take on in-vitro fertilization in a letter to Congress. IVF causes harm to unborn children and parents, and the Senate should not advance the IVF Protection Act until ethical standards are included, he wrote.

Dig deeper: Read Stephen Kloosterman’s report in The Sift for more insight on what will be discussed at the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting.