Posted on 08/02/2022 10:33:28 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Prominent Southern Baptist theologians have published a statement clarifying the meaning of the word "pastor" amid controversy within the United States' largest Protestant denomination stemming from Rick Warren's Saddleback Church ordaining female pastors last year.
The document "A Statement Concerning the Baptist Faith & Message and the Word' Pastor'" was released last week by two Southern Baptist seminary presidents and the former head of the denomination's public policy arm.
The signatories are Albert Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; Chuck Kelley, president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary; and Richard Land, who served as the president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission from 1988-2013 and is the president emeritus of Southern Evangelical Seminary in North Carolina. The Confession Revision Committee assigned the three men to write a study guide for the new 2000 Baptist Faith & Message Confession.
Aiming to bring clarity to a fractious debate within SBC life, the theologians said that when it comes to the word "pastor," Southern Baptists have always understood the term.
In keeping with the spirit of Baptist Faith and Message 2000, "pastor" means "one who fulfills the pastoral office and carries out the pastor's functions."
Article VI of The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 states that the scriptural offices are pastors and deacons and that "[w]hile both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture."
The function of the office and the office itself are inseparable, the three Baptist leaders maintained. They highlighted that the commentary they wrote on the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message notes that central to that pastoral role is "the responsibility to preach and teach."
"[I]t is important to understand that the word pastor was chosen precisely because of its clarity among Southern Baptists. The statement carefully affirms that both men and women are gifted for service in the church, but the role of pastor is biblically defined and is to be held only by men as qualified by Scripture," they reiterated in the new statement.
When the Baptist Faith & Message was adopted and revised in 2000, the committee established that "pastor" was not to be used to describe every ministerial position within a church, they added.
Unlike other denominations with a hierarchical ecclesiastical structure, in Baptist ecclesiology, the local church calls and ordains its pastors, not the denomination as a whole or its affiliated entities.
While the debate over what the Bible says about who is qualified to serve in a pastoral role is not new, the issue resurfaced at this year's annual SBC meeting in Anaheim, California. Many considered Saddleback's recent ordinations of female "pastors" contravening the Baptist Faith & Message 2000.
In remarks from the floor of the annual meeting in June, Warren, the outgoing pastor of the Southern California megachurch, appealed to the denomination to stop fighting over the issue and that the subject is not a first-order doctrine.
"As Western culture grows more dark, more evil, and more secular, we have to decide: Are we going to treat each other as allies or adversaries?" Warren asked.
"Are we going to keep bickering over secondary issues, or are we going to keep the main thing the main thing?"
Discussion of the issue, the theology surrounding it and whether to disaffiliate Saddleback Church from the SBC was ultimately tabled to a later date. It was sent to the convention's credentials committee for further study.
Broadly speaking, those who oppose women being ordained as lead pastors are known as "complementarians" and believe that certain offices within the church are restricted to men. While espousing complementarian theology, there are others who believe that only the office of "senior pastor" is limited to men.
By contrast, "egalitarians" believe that the specific scriptures that appear to restrict the pastoral office to men are not universal blanket restrictions.
Land, one of the men involved in issuing the statement, is the executive editor of The Christian Post. He said in an interview Monday that "it should be remembered that this is a debate about ecclesiology, not soteriology, and should be treated as such in discussion among brothers and sisters in Christ."
I think they should compromise and allow women to be pastors but just not “senior pastors” because I am sure they will stop there and will be content with not being “senior pastors”.
/sarc
Just asking for a friend but would Jesus recognize His church today?
Women are simply not to teach or exercise authority over men.
The word pastor, poimene, is literally a shepherd.
Also, and more precise, are the words episkopos, overseer or bishop, which is quite obviously an authority role. And presbuteros, elder, old man.
Women can do a great many things in the church, and often better than men. Just not the oversight/teaching roles where men would have to submit to them.
Terribly un-pc, but any other way leads to ruin, as the old denominations have shown.
“Senior Pastor” is not a term with any biblical significance.
Baptists misuse the office of a pastor in unbiblical ways. For instance, there cannot be just one pastor over a church. There must be at least two.
Yep we have our role and pastor is not it.
God knows what He is doing. I don’t know all His reasons, of course. I can occupy myself beyond all reason ministering in the church without being a pastor!
Bkmrk
I am still waiting for women to cover their heads on our church.
What do you think the music director is?
Next issue please.
Every denomination that has ordained women as pastors or Bishops has fallen into open apostasy.
Inevitably they start ordaining Lesbians and inevitably they support homosexual marriage, abortion on demand, and all will undoubtedly support ordination of trans pastors and teach that transsexuals are literally what they pretend to be.
It’s the devil getting his foot in the door.
“For instance, there cannot be just one pastor over a church. There must be at least two.”
Don’t know about that. I’ve been Baptist my whole life, never seen a Baptist Church with two co-pastors. There might be a youth pastor, or a pastor for homeless ministries, but never seen a Baptist church with co-pastors, or two or more pastors all with authority over the entire church.
There are solid reasons they aren’t allowed in the mafia or biker gangs.
Pastor-ettes? No. That sounds like some singing group.
Which is odd because every Assemblies of God church I know about has a husband and wife team as pastors.
This new “definition” doesn’t prevent women from stepping in to preach in a time when a pastor or his associates are out.
Women are not allowed to address the congregation as ministers.
‘He said in an interview Monday that “it should be remembered that this is a debate about ecclesiology, not soteriology, and should be treated as such in discussion among brothers and sisters in Christ.”’
It should be remembered that this is a red flag issue, and if you fly that red flag, Christians everywhere will recognize you as siding with the devil and the false church, rather than Christ and the real Church.
he would recognize his body... but that we are not following his biblical dictated instructions.
there are five gifts required to build the church today...
apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.
Christ thought they were needed to bring us to the measure and the stature of himself... and thus put no expiration date on the categories he deemed essential.
I guess he was wrong.
Almost all we have now are pastors and some teachers.
its no wonder we are not growing up, growing strong and doing HIS will on earth as it is done already in heaven.
He said it takes five. we say it takes one or two.
and NO he did not change his mind when the cannon arguments were settled, because we still argue about the cannon.
most so called christians make fun of the gifts of the holy spirit, the effectual laying on of hands, speaking in tongues and healing the sick. We are unable to raise the dead now it seems. but these signs are to follow those that believe. Jesus said that. but once again, his powerless church organizations today... cannot heal a hangnail, or recognize and cast out devils/demons... etc.
His word says it takes 5... and we have allowed it to be reduced to 1 or 2... and we have other offices that are not even mentioned in the new testament. we are a kingdom of priests... so that role is no longer special. but a few groups have elevated that to being “leadership”.
what we have and call church does not coincide with the biblically outlined structure. We have so called christians who do not believe the body and the blood is what Christ said it is... NO WONDER WE HAVE NO POWER. when the believers begin to believe, Christ will reveal and install his leadership in those five categories as they are essential for building up the the body of christ to the full measure of his stature... aka: with resurrection power.
Until then. forget it. we are handcuffed by our unbelief of his written word. and the manifestation of that unbelief is rebellion across the board. Especially the stuff known to be his own dictates (usually highlighted in RED).
take it or leave it? we left it long ago.
Catholics, protestants, orthodox... NONE Of us believe and practice what is commanded by Jesus. We dont believe or accept his word. and we do this, full well knowing that the Savior is the word of God made flesh. I am guilty of this too.
Hence we have no power. No acceptance and following the Word of God, No manifestation of the Holy Spirit, No acceptance of God’s parameters for operating the church... instead we follow dead traditions that make the word of God of no effect.
no wonder we cannot get along.
and don’t agree.
and have no power.
it is past time for repentance. judgement on the way. Unless HE HIMSELF intervenes... materially.
“Just asking for a friend but would Jesus recognize His church today?”
DEPART FROM ME FOR I KNOW THEE NOT.
Pretty much covers it.
Having been in pastoral ministry for 40 years, I don’t know why a woman would want it. More spears and arrows than rewards sometimes.
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