Story at a glance
- Nearly 10,000 church members have gathered in Indianapolis for the Southern Baptist Convention.
- The body voted 92% to expel a Virginia congregation that believes women can be in the pulpit.
- On Wednesday, the group may vote to enshrine a ban on female pastors into the denomination’s constitution.
(NewsNation) — This year’s Southern Baptist Convention in Indianapolis is centering around the role of women in the church, including a vote on formally banning churches with female pastors.
Nearly 10,000 church members have gathered for the meeting and on Tuesday, 92% of the messengers, which is what the group calls representatives, voted to expel a Virginia congregation that believes women can be in the pulpit.
The First Baptist Church in Alexandria, Virginia, allows women to serve in pastoral roles, though there has been some debate over women serving in associate pastor positions rather than senior pastor roles. But according to Southern Baptists’ beliefs, women are not allowed to serve as pastors.
The voting representatives overwhelmingly voted to uphold the gender rules banning women from pastoral leadership and on Wednesday, may double down and vote to enshrine a ban on female pastors into the denomination’s constitution.
The Southern Baptist Convention already bans female pastors but amending the constitution would strengthen the ability to enforce that rule.
The Virginia church that was expelled has been a part of the denomination since the 19th century and has donated millions of dollars to church causes. The expulsion shows just how seriously Southern Baptist leaders are taking the issue.
The proposed amendment gained preliminary approval last year, with this year’s vote a final step. More than 10,000 members are registered to take part in the decision and based on Tuesday’s vote, could show overwhelming support.