KNOXVILLE — Todd Stinnett, senior pastor of Black Oak Heights Baptist Church, Knoxville, has submitted a resolution on women in pastoral ministry to the Resolutions Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Stinnett told the Baptist and Reflector that he submitted his Resolution on Women in Pastoral Ministry for several reasons. “For starters, there is a growing confusion about the role of men and women in the home and in the church. Compounding the issue is that prominent SBC pastors are now ordaining women and encouraging them to exercise teaching authority over men.
“Furthermore, Southern Baptists have historically affirmed only biblically-qualified men as pastors, consistent with I Timothy 3:1-7. Our convictions regarding the role of men and women in the church are captured in the Baptist Faith & Message 2000.
“We must decide if we still want to honor those doctrinal commitments, or if we want to redefine the office of pastor,” Stinnett said.
Stinnett
He added that the issue of women in pastoral ministry “has been something of a Trojan horse used to dismantle once thriving denominations,” noting that there are mainline denominations that have “distanced themselves from Scripture” by affirming women pastors.
The Knoxville pastor also observed that “Southern Baptists need to be given the opportunity to speak clearly on this issue. That means permitting Southern Baptists to vote on resolutions, constitutional amendments and any other means that would help us to reaffirm or redefine our doctrinal convictions. These matters don’t need to be determined by a committee or board. Baptist polity dictates that these matters be settled by the messengers,” he affirmed.
Stinnett’s resolution resolves that SBC messengers “affirm once more that the office of pastor is limited only to men as qualified by Scripture and that “we reaffirm our belief that those churches who affirm or employ women as pastors are in violation of biblical teaching and the Baptist Faith & Message 2000.”
The resolution also encourages the SBC Executive Committee to “encourage each Southern Baptist church that affirms or employs women as pastors to honor the Scripture’s teaching on the role of women in the church” and “withdraw fellowship from any Southern Baptist Church that continues to affirm or employ women as pastors, while recognizing that each autonomous local church is at liberty to set their own doctrine and practice as guided by the Holy Spirit and Scripture.”
Stinnett said he submitted the resolution before the May 30 deadline but does not know if it will be presented to the messengers from the Resolutions Committee.
The committee will make the determination about which successfully submitted resolutions they want to present to the messengers at the annual meeting.
“They could choose to present my resolution to the messengers unedited, edited or not at all. If they decide not to present my resolution, I would have to make a motion from the floor to bring my resolution to the messengers for a vote (requires a two-thirds vote),” he said.
Stinnett said Southern Baptists “needed to be motivated by the glory of God when we make determinations about women in ministry or any other doctrinal matter. Being faithful to Scripture is an act of worship to God.”
To view the resolution, visit https://bohbc.org/resolution. B&R
