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The Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2001 W. Seminary Drive, is one of six seminary schools operated by the Southern Baptist Convention. (Marissa Greene | Fort Worth Report)
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A rule that would ban churches with women pastors from the Southern Baptist Convention failed Wednesday at an annual meeting of the faithful in Indianapolis.At 61.45%, the vote fell shy of the two-thirds majority needed to codify the rule. The Rev. Dr. Aretha Flucker opposed the rule but still said the vote harmed the Baptist community. 

“As a Baptist woman who has served in pastoral leadership for almost a decade, the thought that women cannot or should not fulfill the role of a pastor is just outlandish,” Flucker said. 

Flucker serves a number of roles at Brite Divinity School, the seminary associated with Texas Christian University. She is the director of community and spiritual life, director of Baptist studies and campus pastor. She is not affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention and is on the board of the Alliance of Baptists. 

The Southern Baptist Convention’s 2025 meeting is expected to take place in Dallas. Mike Law, a Virgina pastor who proposed the measure, said in a statement he was disappointed in the results but found the number of Baptists in support of the amendment “encouraging,” and something to “build upon.” 

With Southern Baptists being the largest evangelical Protestant group in the United States and the convention being one of the most influential faith groups in the county, the dispute over women’s role in Baptist churches carries weight, Flucker said. 

“There are so many churches affiliated (with SBC) and clearly some of those churches are still erring on the side of not allowing women to serve in pastoral leadership, and it’s harmful,” she said. “If this vote is brought up again, I would hope that all churches that are affiliated with SBC would outright denounce it.” 

The amendment, which states that churches that want to be affiliated with the convention can appoint “only men as any kind of pastor or elder,” received overwhelming support during its preliminary vote in 2023. However, it needed a second vote with a two-thirds majority to amend the convention’s constitution.More than 5,000 local church representatives voted in favor of the measure and over 3,000 voted against, which fell just shy of the two-thirds majority the amendment needed to pass.

The Rev. Dr. Carroll Marr, senior pastor of  Southcliff Church in Fort Worth, was one of the Tarrant County clergy voting at the convention. He voted against the measure because the SBC’s guiding document, the Baptist Faith and Message, already states that a church’s lead pastor or elder should be a man, he said. 

“I believe it’s clear in the Baptist faith, in essence, that the term … senior pastor is one that is reserved for a man. There’s no question about that in scripture,” Marr said. “But I do believe that the term pastor, meaning Shepherd, is a term that is appropriate for a woman who serves in a children’s position or a woman’s (ministry) position.” 

Senior Pastor Dwight Mckissic, of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington, was also at the SBC annual meeting and said he believes that a senior or lead pastor should be a man. However, he said the proposed amendment would exclude women from other positions within the church, which would disproportionately impact Black churches currently affiliated with the convention. 

“It would unduly affect many of our churches that have women serving as associate pastors in different roles,” Mckissic said, referencing a 2023 letter from the National African American Fellowship in opposition to the amendment. “And furthermore, it’s an invasion and intrusion of the Southern Baptist Convention into the life of the autonomous Black Baptist churches,” Mckissic said. 

Flucker said she is thinking about how the debate abuts the celebration of Juneteenth. 

“It is shameful that any church would not affirm a Baptist woman, and especially a Black one, as we come across this huge holiday that is so meaningful to all of us and is a sign of our liberty,” Flucker said. “Shouldn’t we be liberated in the church as well?” 

The Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth is one of six seminary schools operated by the Southern Baptist Convention and is one of the largest seminaries in the world.

A spokesperson for the seminary said that the school “joyfully cooperates with the messengers of the SBC in all matters,” and that the seminary remains “committed to the entirety of the Baptist faith and message as a confessionally guided institution.”Even though the vote did not get a two-thirds majority, the percentage of voters in favor of the amendment is still significant, said Doug Weaver, chairman of Baylor University’s department of religion. 

The convention can still find churches not “in friendly cooperation” with the SBC and its beliefs and kick them out, he said 

“That’s not changed, and that won’t change,” Weaver said. “If there is a church out there that does have a (woman) senior minister, or if there’s a church that hires one in the next several months, you would see them (SBC) initiate proceedings to disfellowshipping.” 

Marissa Greene is a Report for America corps member, covering faith for the Fort Worth Report. You can contact her at marissa.greene@fortworthreport.org or @marissaygreene. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.