By Will Hall, Baptist Message Executive Editor
INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana (LBM) — One of the biggest issues Southern Baptists will address in 2024 is a constitutional change known as the Law Amendment.
A two-thirds vote in Indianapolis would add a sixth element to Article III (which lists the qualifications for a church to send messengers to participate in the yearly business meeting) to further define that “only men” may serve “as any kind of pastor or elder” in a congregation that affiliates with the Southern Baptist Convention.
This constitutional initiative was launched in 2022 by Mike Law, who is the pastor of Arlington Baptist Church, Arlington, Virginia. He said he was moved to act after the SBC Credentials Committee delayed a decision about disfellowshipping Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, for having ordained three female staff members as pastors in 2021.
The Baptist Faith & Message 2000 states, “While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor/elder/overseer is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.” However, the committee said it could not act in 2022 “until clarity is provided regarding the use of the title ‘pastor’ for staff positions with different responsibility and authority than that of the lead pastor.”
Law said he offered his motion to amend the Constitution to provide that clarity.
Despite a negative recommendation from the SBC Executive Committee during the 2023 SBC Annual Meeting, media reports indicated 80 percent of messengers raised ballots in favor of the Law Amendment. However, any constitutional change needs at least two-thirds approval during two consecutive annual meetings for that item to be enacted.
