The Southern Baptist Convention is facing a crisis of process regarding woman pastors. Recent attempts to codify language in the SBC constitution through amendments offered by Mike Law and Juan Sanchez both failed to get the supermajority they needed to change Article III of the SBC Constitution. Others, including myself, have advocated for a system in place that can work through our Credentials Committee. That argument has been called into question as the Credentials Committee has, at points, failed to act to remove churches such as NewSpring when the opportunity presented, and at other times they have displayed inconsistency in their decisions. What are we to do?
The problem was never the language of our documents, but rather the enforcement mechanism already in place. The Law Amendment was, in that sense, redundant. Article III of the SBC Constitution already reads that the convention will only deem a church to be in friendly cooperation if it has "a faith and practice which closely identifies with the Convention's adopted statement of faith." The Law Amendment essentially restated what the BFM2000 already says in Article VI—that the office of pastor/elder/overseer is limited to men as qualified by Scripture. Adding those words again to the constitution does not solve the problem. Giving the Credentials Committee a clear, confessionally grounded mandate does.
As we stand today, some are suggesting we bring the Law Amendment back for a third time. SBC Presidential candidate Willy Rice is in favor of appointing a task force to deal with the issue. Griffin Gulledge recently proposed working the issue through the SBC Executive Committee in order for them to draft a document that messengers could debate, amend, and approve that would give clearer, more open guidelines to the Credentials Committee. Any of these may work, but I have been a proponent that the best way to enact such change is to amend Bylaw 8, which governs the work of the Credentials Committee, defining what the committee does and outlining how it operates.
We saw this bylaw applied in real time at the 2024 SBC Annual Meeting in Indianapolis when messengers from FBC Alexandria were unseated under Section C, subsection 2. The committee already has the structure in place to do its job. What it lacks is explicit guidance from messengers on the question of women serving as pastors. Therefore, I suggest a proposal to bring that guidance in the form of a motion like this:
That the Southern Baptist Convention amend Bylaw 8, Section C (Credentials Committee), by adding the following new subsection 6 immediately following the existing subsection 5:
"In considering whether a church is in friendly cooperation with the Convention under Article III of the Constitution, the Credentials Committee and the Executive Committee shall regard a church as not closely identified with the Convention’s adopted statement of faith if the church recognizes, installs, retains, or otherwise holds out a woman as occupying the office of pastor/elder/overseer.
For purposes of this subsection, the office of pastor/elder/overseer shall mean the office of spiritual authority and doctrinal oversight in the congregation.
In making such determination, the Credentials Committee and the Executive Committee may consider, among other things, whether a church: (a) assigns to a woman the title of pastor, elder, overseer, shepherd, or another title reasonably understood to denote the pastoral office; (b) authorizes a woman to perform functions ordinarily belonging to the pastoral office in the congregation, including preaching regularly to the gathered church or exercising doctrinal or disciplinary oversight; or (c) maintains that a woman may occupy the pastoral office while using another title.
The use of a ministry title alone shall not be determinative apart from the church’s own description of the role, its assigned responsibilities, and its public presentation of the position. In all such cases, the Credentials Committee shall consider the totality of the church’s faith and practice as it relates to the office of pastor/elder/overseer.”
This makes sense to me for two reasons.
First, it gives clear guidance to the Credentials Committee on the issue of woman pastors. This language should eliminate some of the most recent kerfuffles we have seen. Second, this would be much easier to actually get across the finish line. This proposal would require a two-thirds vote at only one annual meeting, whereas amending the constitution takes two years. Instead of trying to amend the constitution over two years, or wait for a task force to report back, this actually moves the ball down the field.
Amending Bylaw 8 is the best way forward to accomplishing what this complementarian convention wants to do. It operates within an existing structure, the Credentials Committee, and provides them with clear guidance. Rather than creating a new mechanism, it strengthens the tools we already have. It ensures that the committee tasked with determining “friendly cooperation” has a defined, confessionally grounded framework for addressing a matter that has proven difficult to adjudicate.
I would argue that this amendment also provides needed clarity. In recent years, much of the confusion has centered not only on roles but on titles. Some churches have attempted to navigate the issue by modifying or qualifying pastoral titles as we have seen recently with Fielder Church in Texas which has given women a title (shepherd) while stopping short of the word "pastor" itself, though these staff members did previously hold the title pastor. This amendment addresses that directly. When the matter came before the Credentials Committee, the absence of clear standards on titles left the committee without firm footing to act. That ambiguity is precisely what this amendment resolves.
Southern Baptists do not believe that title of pastor is merely semantic. It carries theological weight. It means something, and it must mean what the New Testament says. Affirming that the title should be reserved for those fulfilling that office eliminates the ambiguity that has allowed workarounds and promotes consistency across our cooperative body.
And that consistency is desperately needed. One of the most undermining perceptions in recent SBC life is that the Credentials Committee operates without a clear or consistent standard. It has been said that outcomes depend more on political will than what we actually believe. That perception, whether fair or not, does real damage to trust in our cooperative structure. This amendment addresses it directly. When the standard is written down, rooted in our shared confession, and applied uniformly, the committee's decisions become explainable. Churches will know what is expected of them. Messengers will be able to evaluate whether the process is working. And the convention as a whole will be able to move forward with confidence that cooperation means something, and that it means the same thing for every church.
The last thing I will say about this approach is that it rightly honors the balance between local church autonomy and cooperative accountability. The SBC has never functioned as a top-down authority dictating to churches. Each congregation remains free to do as they please. However, cooperation has always required shared doctrinal boundaries. This motion does not infringe upon autonomy; it simply clarifies the expectations for churches that wish to identify as being in friendly cooperation with the SBC. In doing so, it preserves both principles without sacrificing either.
Amending Bylaw 8 is the most direct, confessionally grounded, and procedurally accessible path available to the convention right now. The structure already exists. The confession already speaks. All that remains is the will to act.
Editor's Note: As a part of its commitment to fostering conversation within the Southern Baptist Convention, the Baptist Review may publish editorials that espouse viewpoints that are not necessarily shared by the TBR team or other contributors. We welcome submissions for responses and rebuttals to any editorials as we seek to host meaningful conversations about the present and future of our convention.
Jared Cornutt
Jared Cornutt serves as Pastor of North Shelby Baptist Church in Birmingham, AL. Jared’s motion to amend the BFM2000 made at the 2023 Convention was overwhelmingly adopted, the first amendment to the BFM since its initial adoption. Jared graduated from the University of Alabama in 2013 and from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in 2015 with his Master of Divinity. He is currently a student at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, MO pursuing a Ph.D. in Historical Theology and will also earn a Th.M. in the process. Jared is a regular speaker at D-Nows, camps, revivals, and other church related events. Jared is married to Kandace and together they have four children. He is a founder and leadership team member for The Baptist Review.