The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) concluded its annual meeting this week after taking up issues such as the disfellowshipping of churches with female pastors and the proposed abolition of the SBC’s public policy agency.
Messengers, as SBC delegates are known, failed to approve an amendment to the SBC constitution barring churches with women pastors from remaining in cooperation with the convention. Sixty percent of messengers voted in favor of the amendment, falling short of the two-thirds supermajority required.
Proponents of the amendment cited the need to clarify the Baptist Faith and Message’s stance on women pastors. Juan Sanchez, pastor of High Pointe Baptist Church in Austin, Texas, introduced the amendment at the 2025 convention.
“The aim of this motion is simply to provide help by clarifying what the Baptist Faith and Message already says regarding the office of pastor. We simply hope to provide further guidance to the Credentials Committee,” Sanchez explained.
Opponents worried the amendment would increase lawsuit exposure and argued that the Baptist Faith and Message is already clear about the issue.
Jeff Iorg, president and CEO of the SBC Executive Committee, spoke against the amendment. Iorg worried that incorporating a prohibition against women pastors into the SBC’s constitution would further expose the convention to lawsuits. Iorg mentioned that the Credentials Committee is already embroiled in a defamation suit, which is being appealed to the Tennessee Supreme Court.
“The courts do not interfere with our doctrine, but they do interfere with us when we move something into the constitution and claim it to be a legal standard. You’re removing this conversation from theologians and pastors and handing it to attorneys and insurance companies,” Iorg stated.
Another point of debate at the convention involved the future of the SBC’s public policy arm, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC). This year’s motion to abolish the ERLC failed to pass. However, the motion gained traction compared to last year’s vote on the same question. In 2024, roughly a quarter of the messengers at the Indianapolis convention favored the motion to abolish the ERLC. This year, that number increased to nearly 43 percent.
A major criticism of the ERLC is that its advocacy goes beyond the official policy positions of the SBC. Proponents of abolishing the ERLC accused its leadership of misrepresenting the SBC’s positions on abortion, gun control and the Russia-Ukraine War.
For instance, current ERLC president Brent Leatherwood signed an open letter against legislation implementing criminal penalties for women who have abortions.
“We urge you to reject any measure that seeks to criminalize women who have abortions,” the letter stated.
Proponents also cited the ERLC’s lack of financial transparency and alleged that the ERLC accepted funding from progressive advocacy groups.
“Many have been stunned to learn that outside progressive advocacy groups have financially supported our ERLC. And there’s been no public repentance, no rejection of those alliances and no plan to keep it from happening again,” argued Willy Rice, pastor of Calvary Church in Clearwater, Florida, and the proposer of the motion.
Defenders of the ERLC highlighted the group’s historic opportunities to influence the Trump administration and ERLC support for broader pro-life causes.
Despite these controversial motions, a majority of SBC messengers supported several key resolutions declaring the SBC’s stance on gay marriage, pornography, chemical abortion and sports betting.
Sports betting has been legalized in 39 states since the Supreme Court permitted states to legislate on the issue in 2018. The SBC resolution condemned sports betting as a sin and blamed the sports betting industry for promoting a “culture of greed” and the commodification of athletes.
Another SBC resolution decried homosexuality, policies mandating the use of preferred pronouns and growing trends of “willful childlessness.” The resolution called for the overturning of laws and court rulings legalizing gay marriage and urged policymakers to support pro-family legislation.
The internal rifts exposed by the 2025 convention are nothing new to Southern Baptists. However, the persistent controversies suggest broad uneasiness with SBC leadership and growing concerns over the SBC’s involvement in public policy and the culture.
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Comment by Wilson R. on June 17, 2025 at 12:49 pm
The anger among the messengers over a letter opposing criminal penalties for women who obtain abortions is what stands out to me.
To oppose such penalties is not to support abortion. It’s to remember what Jesus said about throwing the first stone at those who sin.
I think we’ve seen enough from the SBC’s track record of refusing to confront clergy sexual abuse and blaming/shaming victims to agree that this group doesn’t exactly meet Jesus’ standard for being without sin before they condemn someone else.
Comment by David Gingrich on June 18, 2025 at 7:55 am
Thank you to the SBC messengers. You are the last remaining denomination who lives out “in essentials UNITY, in non-essentials LIBERTY, in all things CHARITY”.