Affirmation of women, commitments to find proper ways to deal with abuse surface at SBC

Affirmation of women, commitments to find proper ways to deal with abuse surface at SBC

Woven throughout the June 12–13 Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) annual meeting in Dallas was a thread about women.

Reports, panel discussions, resolutions, new initiatives and an awareness rally dealt with the affirmation of women, awareness of the disrespect women in ministry have felt through the years and a commitment to be intentional against sexual assault.

The focus comes after months of buildup since the #MeToo movement exploded internationally and disclosures of sexual abuse, assault, misconduct and mishandling of assault surfaced within the SBC.

Several motions and messenger questions related to the May 30 firing of former Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary President Paige Patterson, who allegedly mishandled a 2003 report of sexual assault at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina, during his presidency there.

Two resolutions addressed the dignity and protection of women: one on the dignity and worth of women on the 100th anniversary of women as messengers to the SBC and another on abuse.

Two motions on protecting churches from sexual predators were referred to the Executive Committee (EC), as was a motion asking the EC to study biblical authority for a woman to serve as SBC president.

Leader after leader shared their appreciation for women and noted how many women they had on their staffs.

All six SBC seminary presidents addressed the issue of sexual abuse and misconduct during their reports.

Two presidents — Chuck Kelley of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Al Mohler of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky — said the institutions they lead believe the Bible’s teaching on gender precludes women from service in some faculty roles, although women hold teaching and administrative roles at both seminaries.

Kelley said women do not serve as preaching professors at New Orleans Seminary, and Mohler said women do not serve as professors in the School of Theology at Southern Seminary.

Outside of the questions for the seminary presidents, messengers did not debate the topic on the convention floor.

Several panel discussions and outside meetings took place around the SBC annual meeting, however (see story, this page for coverage of one of the meetings).

Author and speaker Beth Moore, who recently shared her own experience with sexism in the SBC was a popular speaker and panelist on preventing and dealing with sexual abuse, assault and harassment.

Also during the annual meeting Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), announced two new initiatives — a women’s summit and an abuse study.

ERLC will gather women from across the SBC and evangelical world “to think through ways to enhance our ministries and invest in our churches,” Moore said. ERLC also will partner with LifeWay Research for a full-scale study on the extent of abuse in churches.

“There should not be one inch of toleration for the abuse or mistreatment of women or others within our churches, and if we care about human dignity, we must be clear about that,” Russell Moore said.

“I’m grateful that this [convention] has spoken with such clarity about what we believe about the dignity of women, our sisters in Christ and joint heirs in Christ.” (TAB, BP)