ANAHEIM, Calif. — California knows the difficulty of putting out wildfires, but maybe nobody knows the difficulty like Southern Baptists. In the last few years, as NAMB was putting out fires concerning women pastors in church plants under their care, Rick Warren and Saddleback Church were starting their own. A statement of clarification on women in ministry by NAMB was no firebreak for Saddleback, as Pastor Rick Warren and his church ordained three women as staff pastors just in time for the annual meeting of Southern Baptists in Nashville last year.
The response was predictable. In the 2021 Annual Meeting in Nashville, a recommendation was made by Shadd Tibbs of Louisiana to refuse the seating of messengers from Saddleback Church. The bylaws of the SBC direct these issues to be handled at the subsequent meeting. Consequently, it was not going to be the homecoming anticipated by mega-church pastor, Rick Warren, as the 2022 meeting would be held in his backyard, Anaheim, CA. As we approached the Anaheim meeting, the wind stirred the fire yet again as Saddleback made headlines naming Andy and Stacie Wood of Echo Church as the successors for Rick and his wife Kay.
The Woods and their Echo Church may be familiar to some as a focal point of the egalitarian controversy with NAMB. A multi-campus mega-church, with campuses in the Bay Area in California, they were in a premier partnership with NAMB as a church planting hub—even highlighted in NAMB’s ‘On Mission’ Summer edition in 20181. This partnership included facilitating church planter assessments and offering a residency program for church planters who would stay in the two NAMB owned, million-dollar homes in proximity to the work. What could be wrong with all the NAMB attention focused there? Well, these Woods were flammable. Stacie Wood was a “Teaching Pastor” at Echo along with several other women2.
These issues, along with the production of Echo’s own brewed “outreach beer”, seemed to characterize the disparity between the Woods’ and SBC belief and practice. Around the conclusion of NAMB's investigation of egalitarian practices, Echo Church either broke its alliance with the SBC or the relationship snuck below the radar rather than undergo correction. Either way, they certainly did not change their ways. To be sure, this knowledge of Stacie Woods’ position as a primary teaching pastor would not have required much research or even a personal interview on the part of the SBC Credentials Committee. Christianity Today reported that the Woods would now "continue their previous roles at Saddleback.3” In words that would sound like a sworn testimony, Stacie Woods herself was quite clear: “I, Stacie, will serve alongside Andy as a Teaching Pastor.4” There was nothing nuanced in this statement. She will be one of Saddleback’s teaching Pastors.
Contrary to the opinion of some, Southern Baptists do not love to fight. They are, however, often people of conviction, and words mean something. The words of Saddleback, Echo, and many other churches who want to broaden the tent of SBC confessional meaning are in direct opposition to 1 Timothy 2:12. There, “teach[ing]” and “have[ing] authority” as a leading role in the church is not in question. It is not merely an issue of “lead” pastor or “senior” pastor but one of both nomenclature and function of a pastor. "Pastor" would apply to all who call themselves by that name and/or fulfill that function by another name without any further need for clarification. We settled this issue as a Convention of churches in the BF&M 2000. If a woman is not teaching or exercising authority over men in the church, then use a different word. To use the term "pastor" or even to mask the same functions by using a different name puts a church beyond what we have agreed to as the least common denominators of biblical, confessional fellowship. Saddleback has shown with clarity a history of bringing in women pastors on staff, and now, it’s going to be led by the husband-and-wife pastor team of Echo Church at their helm. Call it a fire; or call it a "drift," but do call it what it is—unbiblical.
Part 2: The Meeting in Anaheim
With all the ingredients for a wildfire, the Convention was anticipating the unseating of Saddleback at this Annual Meeting in Anaheim. Instead, a motion was presented by the Credentials Committee asking for a presidentially appointed study group to give a precise definition of what “pastor” means. This skirting of the issue was a shock. Linda Cooper, chairwoman of the committee, said, “[the committee] found little information regarding convention beliefs regarding the use of the ‘title of pastor’ for staff positions with different responsibility and authority than a lead pastor role.”
Cooper’s committee provided the often inserted “senior” or “lead” when describing the role of pastor, saying, “a majority of SBC churches hold the belief that the office of lead pastor, elder, bishop or overseer is limited to men as qualified by Scripture [emphasis mine].” To be sure, there is work that needs to happen to settle both useful nomenclature and what boundaries there are for the authority in question. However, SADDLEBACK'S CASE IS NOT A QUESTION AT ALL. They called a female pastor and she functioned as a pastor; plus they ordained female pastors who often functioned as pastors. Saddleback’s practice is clearly egalitarian. This does not make them unchristian, but it does make them “un-Southern Baptist.” They should have been unseated!
In the debate concerning the Credentials Committee recommendation, both Southern Seminary President, Albert Mohler, and SBC presidential candidate, Tom Ascol, spoke against the need for a study group at all. Mohler, the unrivaled authority on the BF&M 2000, having had a seat on the committee that composed it, said, “Southern Baptists are not confused by what the statement means by the word pastor.” Of course, Ascol declared the message of the hour, reminding the messengers, “We have a Book." In response to the debate, Linda Cooper said that the term and use of “pastor” can be vague as it is a spiritual gift and does not seem to have consensus among Southern Baptists—a confusing interjection requiring the chair to calm the crowd. This is not an issue of popular opinions and notions, but one of established biblical conviction. The book gives us the only definition that matters to the question at hand. When used in the Scriptures, the words for pastors, elders, and overseers are used as clear synonyms—most clearly seen in 1 Peter 5:2-3.
”So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Pe 5:1–4.
The words are understood to be interchangeable and universally applied in all of Scripture to men so qualified without exception. So it was a strange turn indeed when Adam W. Greenway, President of Southwestern Seminary, skirted the pastoral gender issue and proposed an amendment to the committee’s recommendation. The amendment would change the focus of the proposed study committee to examine how relatively close a church must adhere to the Baptist Faith and Message to be considered in “friendly cooperation.” This may expose either the keen parliamentary mind of Greenway, the love Greenway has for the Convention in making peace by serving to settle the issue, or his own bend toward a more libertarian grip on complementarian doctrine. Only time will tell. When Greenway’s amendment rightly failed, the motion went to a ballot vote, and for the moment, business went on.
Later in the day, messengers were jolted as special guest, Rick Warren was introduced and given the microphone: “I have no intention of defending myself…” he inserted, and then proceeded to defend himself, giving a five-minute speech filled with self-accolades of his building of pastors, churches, baptisms, missionaries, and materials that the SBC couldn’t seem to do without. Warren’s five minutes was more time than messengers were allowed at any point in the debates. It should be noted, according to the bylaws, that Warren should not have been allowed to speak, because even if he was representing Saddleback Church, no recommendation to unseat Saddleback was made. This premature action led to a speech as cringeworthy as the abuse report details. The chair should have afforded him such an opportunity only if the question of his seating was presented. According to the bylaws:
“The Convention shall immediately consider the committee’s recommendation. One representative of the church under consideration and one representative of the Credentials Committee shall be permitted to speak to the question, subject to the normal rules of debate.5”
The seating of messengers was not under debate; only the alternative recommendation to study the issue. The unprecedented action made the whole effort an embarrassment. In fact, not only was the seating of those messengers not under debate, but neither was the consideration to unseat Warren himself, but the unseating of messengers from a church out of line with the clear convictions of the SBC. Even in 1984, the Convention spoke clearly in the form of a resolution stating,
“Therefore, be it RESOLVED, That we not decide concerns of Christians doctrine and practice by modern cultural, sociological, and ecclesiastical trends or by emotional factors; that we remind ourselves of the dearly bought Baptist principle of the final authority of Scripture in matters of faith and conduct; and that we encourage the service of women in all aspects of church life and work other than pastoral functions and leadership roles entailing ordination.6”
Where does the Saddleback issue now stand? The recommendation was ultimately withdrawn by the committee and no action was called for. Yes, we have skirted the issue with Saddleback—maybe it’s because the application is hurtful, as seen in Warren's response; maybe because it's too difficult to deal with as seen in the committee; perhaps because it's a megachurch with deep pockets we fear offending, or maybe for any number of reasons. Either way, the committee can now present it under the secrecy of the Executive Committee and continue the proven dangerous course of handling things in the shadows or they can wait another year in hopes of a more favorable climate in New Orleans. According to the bylaws, it can wait “until prepared” and “at the earliest opportunity”. Our only hope is that it happens before the Judgment Seat, but make no mistake, Christ is sure to handle it there.
For many Southern Baptists who sense conviction in this area, there is frustration over the perceived “drift” that continues to be denied in the face of such delays and debates. Messengers are left with the distinct feeling of being gaslit as they endlessly hope for real dialogue or real solutions. One messenger nearby said, “Am I the only one who thinks this is a problem?” Asking one church member his thought in response to the debacle, he responded, “It just seems the Convention has left me behind.” For him, it was the final push directing him to look at options for a fellowship that more aligns with his and his Southern Baptist Church’s convictions. He's personally out and his church is out.
The burning of “fundamentalists” and their churches may be celebrated by gloating adolescents in social media circles—a place where Christian character and decorum have difficulty finding a platform, but make no mistake, skirting the issue will not lead to stronger unity, greater strength, or lasting peace. It will not lead to more love and better theology. In fact, it will turn a drifting ship into a flaming shipwreck. Let's pray that we will come together in unity around the Word of God, in a spirit of genuine love for brothers or even perceived enemies, and stop skirting the issues so we can put these fires out.
https://www.sbc.net/about/what-we-do/legal-documentation/bylaws/; (SBC Bylaws 8C2(b)).