Earlier this week, the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention (SBTC) met in Lubbock and drew some attention because of a question surrounding whether Fielder Church (Arlington, TX) was in friendly cooperation with the SBTC or not. Fielder Church's cooperative status has also been in question with many in the national Southern Baptist Convention.
Ultimately, motions to vote on the matter were ruled out of order. Bart Barber, former SBC President and a SBTC pastor, wrote a helpful explainer as to why that took place.
The calls to disfellowship Fielder Church have been coming for quite a while now. The reason is because of the church’s long-standing practice of employing women with the title pastor. Recently, the SBTC approved an interpretation which stated “that the SBTC, for purposes of affiliation, interpret the language in the SBTC Constitution, Article IV, Section 1 'affirms the office of pastor be limited to men' to refer not only to the titles of senior pastor or lead pastor but to any role designated by the noun ‘pastor’.”
In response, Fielder Church proactively made changes to staff titles, replacing “pastor” with “shepherd.” By doing this they technically do not have any female on staff with the title pastor. This decision, along with Lead Shepherd Jason Paredes’s statements on the issue, has brought confusion.
Fielder and Female Pastors
I don’t want to get involved in the process of other conventions. I used to pastor an SBTC church and am grateful for the state convention, and I am happily an Alabama Baptist. However, there are implication here for the SBC at large. As SBC President Clint Pressley tweeted, “Fielder is in clear violation of the BF&M. I feel like this will be handled at our annual meeting in June, as it always is.”
As a reminder, after the 2023 SBC Annual Meeting in New Orleans, where messengers voted overwhelmingly to disfellowship Saddleback Church for having female pastors. Following the annual meeting Paredes addressed his congregation and said lamenting that decision that at their church, “We unwaveringly, unequivocally, gratefully have female pastors in this church.”
According to the SBC Credentials Committee, Saddleback was recommended for disfellowship because its “faith and practice” were inconsistent with Article VI of the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 (BFM 2000), which says:
“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.”
It is important to note the facts about Fielder Church’s position. The women on staff at Fielder who previously have the title pastor do not preach to the gathered church, nor are they ordained. Paredes says that he is a complementarian. How do we square this? How can a church have female pastors and be complementarian? For Fielder, it’s more about function than title, and they would argue that their female pastors/shepherds do not function in the office of elder.
Fielder Church maintains an all-male elder board and affirms that only men can serve in the office of elder/overseer. The argument that Fielder holds is not one that is unique to them, but it does like this are some who argue that the Greek word poimēn (pastor or shepherd) describes a gift rather than the office of elder. By this reasoning, a person may have the gift of pastor/shepherding without holding the office of elder. Because of that, Fielder believes it is in friendly cooperation: their female pastors (now called “shepherds”) do not preach to the whole congregation, exercise governing authority, or serve as elders
However, the Baptist Faith and Message (2000) and its most recent amendment don’t make such a distinction. The SBC’s confessional statement is clear: the office of pastor, elder, and overseer are viewed as one and the same, and Scripture limits those offices to qualified men. The titles are used interchangeably all describing the same office. The Statement of faith is clear that a pastor is an elder is an overseer.
For that reason, many believe Fielder’s practice, regardless of their nuance, is inconsistent with the SBC’s stated confession. So, the question for the SBC is this: is Fielder Church’s faith and practice in line with the BFM 2000?
In recent years, churches have been declared “not in friendly cooperation” for similar reasons. In 2023, Saddleback Church and Fern Creek Baptist Church were both removed for employing female pastors. The Credentials Committee expressed that their removal was due to them not having a faith and practice aligned with the statement of faith because of women function as pastor/elder/overseer. Earlier this year, NewSpring Church in South Carolina withdrew from the SBC ahead of what would have been a similar vote over their female teaching pastor.
What Fielder Should Do for the Sake of Unity
A reckoning on this issue is likely coming at the SBC Annual Meeting in Orlando next summer, whether from the Credentials Committee or the floor. But it doesn’t have to come to that. Fielder Church should that the proverbial ball out of the hands of the messengers, and for the sake of unity, Fielder Church could take some proactive steps.
1. Clarify Previous Statements
If Fielder truly believes that pastors and elders are different roles, they must also wrestle with their response to the vote at the 2023 SBC Annual Meeting to remove Saddleback. I don’t believe any church should be removed for how they voted at the annual meeting. That is their right as seated messengers. What was communicated after the vote, however, has created a lot of confusion.
Words matter, especially when spoken from the pulpit and broadcast publicly. Those statements sent a signal that Fielder Church was not only comfortable with female pastors in title but was affirming Saddleback’s actions as acceptable within Southern Baptist life. If that is not what Fielder intends to communicate, then they should clarify. Saddleback’s argument while similar to Fielder’s (male-only elders), was disproven by their practice. Fair or not, the perception remains that Fielder Church is attempting to occupy two contradictory positions: claiming to be complementarian while arguing for female pastors in contradiction to our confession.
This lack of clarity has fostered confusion and mistrust. If Fielder Church desires continued friend cooperation with the SBC this clarification would be a good step. Cooperation depends on clarity.
2. Align with the Baptist Faith and Message 2000
Despite Fielder’s distinctions about pastor/shepherd and the office of elder, the SBC’s confession explicitly lists pastor, elder, and overseer as the same office. The clear reading of the BFM 2000 is that these are not one gift and one office, but one office.
Fielder can certainly hold their own convictions as an autonomous church, but cooperation means operating within shared doctrinal boundaries. What Fielder Church is doing is not identifiably Southern Baptist. It ignores both our historical understanding and our current confessional position. For over a century, Southern Baptists have understood that the office of pastor/elder/overseer is one and the same and reserved for qualified men. To reinterpret that now is to step outside the doctrinal stream that has defined our cooperation and unity.
If their interpretation differs, they should acknowledge that their belief departs from the SBC’s confessional standard and decide whether that partnership remains tenable, or the convention will.
3. Retitle Their Staff
This may feel like a hill worth dying on for Fielder, but if their desire is true unity, they should reconsider. Titles matter (as does function), especially in a denomination that defines cooperation around confessional clarity.
Fielder has already replaced “pastor” with “shepherd,” which was a strategic move. But to many, it appears more like a convenient change than a convictional one. It is a way to say, “We don’t have female pastors,” while maintaining the same structure. I do believe it is very telling that the Lead Pastor himself changed his title to Lead Shepherd.
If the goal is unity, it might be time to make the title change permanent and transparent: reserve the word pastor for those serving in the elder office and use other titles for those serving in ministry leadership. This would not diminish the value of women’s ministry; it would simply demonstrate respect for shared convictions.
Friendly Cooperation
Much has been said recently about the survival of the SBC and what must be done. I believe that our cooperation is the key to our survival. Cooperation requires churches to share a recognizable, identifiable Baptist faith and practice as outlined in our shared statement of faith. Cooperation requires alignment, not ambiguity.
Fielder Church’s current stance at best blurs those lines, and at worst defies them. They are not modeling identifiable Southern Baptist belief and practice but rather redefining it. That kind of approach undermines unity and breeds confusion among our churches. When a church persists in behavior that causes confusion, division, and inconsistency with our confession, that behavior no longer reflects friendly cooperation, it becomes strained cooperation.
Fielder Church has been made aware of the divisiveness of this issue. Yet rather than clarifying or adjusting, they appear to have dug in further. That posture does not promote unity.
If Fielder Church refuses to clarify its belief, align with the confession, and retitle its staff transparently, then the messengers at the upcoming annual meeting in Orlando may have to take the ball and run with it. For the sake of cooperation, clarity, and our confessional witness as Southern Baptists, I hope Fielder Church will act, or the Convention must.
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.