Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Do SBC Moderates Really Believe Women Should Serve as Pastors? An Important Research Project

This is a very interesting article written by Al Mohler, the findings I thought were very surprising.

The controversy over women in the pastorate has been a part of Southern Baptist life for the last three decades. This is not to say that the controversy has itself reshaped the Baptist landscape at the congregational level. As is now clear, "moderate" churches historically identified with the Southern Baptist Convention are virtually as reluctant as conservative churches to call a woman as pastor. Instead, the question of women in the pastorate has become something of a symbolic issue for SBC moderates and their successors. In a very real sense, the question has become rather hypothetical, serving as an indicator of a theological trajectory rather than a genuine openness to having a woman serve as pastor.

The conclusive evidence for this is found in a report commissioned by Baptist Women in Ministry. "The State of Women in Baptist Life, 2005" by Eileen R. Campbell-Reed and Pamela R. Durso is a major research project that should reshape the conversation over women in ministry among Baptists.

For full article click here.

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