Dear Southern Baptist Women, You Are Not Wanted By The Church

In a recent vote, the Southern Baptists failed to ban women from being pastors.

Women who wish to serve as pastors in the church may think they've won a victory with a recent vote, but the actually didn't win, they just didn't lose. The vote was 61% in favor of the ban, but it would have required two-thirds to be enacted. In addition, some may have voted against the ban, just to keep people from leaving the church entirely. It's really hard to call that a victory for women.

Women may feel they are called to serve as pastors of a church, but there's this bible verse that's hard to get around:

“A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent” (1 Timothy 2:11–12)-GotQuestions.org

Interestingly enough, the actual site sourced above tries to add a mild spin on that verse. They say that women can teach other women, or children, but the bible makes it very clear they cannot teach men. It goes on to explain that there are many other ways women can serve the church.

It is an interesting time in that women can do almost any job a man can do.  The question becomes, is it okay for a woman to be a manager at a store and have male employees? My reading comprehension is fairly good, and according to the bible passage above, the answer would be "no". I'm not sure how you can dance around that answer no matter how hard you try.  Still, some claim that particular verse is "situational" and should not be taken literally.

Your author is certainly not an expert on any of these matters, but finds the topic fascinating. I'm not so sure I would get myself into a situation where 61% of the people were against me. That is what the recent vote at the Southern Baptist Convention has left women pastors to wrestle with.