Southern Baptist Church votes against removing women leaders
Nikki Hardeman, an advocacy director for Baptist Women in Ministry, left, Meredith Stone, executive director of Baptist Women in Ministry, center, and Christa Brown, an advocate for survivors of sexual abuse and a supporter of the Baptist Women in Ministry, stand outside the venue of a Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting. (Doug McSchooler/AP)
It’s a historic day for the 13-million-member Southern Baptist Church. Leaders attending the group’s annual convention in Indianapolis did not get the two-thirds majority vote they would have needed to remove women from leadership roles in the church.
The move would have applied to Southern Baptist women pastors, as well as those who run “women’s ministries,” bible study groups, Sunday school programs, counseling services and more. The results came as a surprise to many, particularly since the newly elected church president, North Carolina pastor Clint Pressley, supported the amendment.
Kate Shellnut is covering the convention for Christianity Today and talks to host Deepa Fernandes about the vote and its significance.
Correction: An earlier version of this post mischaracterized the results of the vote. We regret the error.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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