May 3, 2024
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Southern Baptist Convention on Tuesday ousted Saddleback Church, the renowned California megachurch, founded by pastor and best-selling author Rick Warren, for having a woman serving as a teaching pastor.
The vote by the convention's Executive Committee resulted from growing tension between leaders of the nation's largest Protestant denomination and a congregation whose story has been one of the biggest church-growth successes of modern times.
The Executive Committee said the action was taken becasue Stacie Wood, wife of Saddleback’s current lead pastor Andy Wood, is “functioning in the office of pastor.”
But the controversy began in 2021, when Warren ordained three women as associate pastors, prompting discussions within the denomination about possibly expelling the megachurch.
Warren retired last year after 42 years at Saddleback. He made an emotional speech in June 2022 at the Southern Baptists’ annual convention in Anaheim, Calif., standing by his ordination of women. He told delegates who debated the issue, “We have to decide if we will treat each other as allies or adversaries.”
But the Executive Committee took the vote Tuesday without public discussion after meeting in executive session.
It voted to approve a recommendation from the denomination's Credentials Committee that Saddleback be deemed “not in friendly cooperation with the Convention." While Southern Baptists' statement of faith officially opposes women as pastors, there is no top-down leadership within the denomination. Each congregation is self-governing.
As a result, the Executive Committee can’t force a congregation to abide by its rules but can oust a church that does not.
The Executive Committee's motion said that Saddleback “has a faith and practice that does not closely identify with the Convention’s adopted statement of faith, as demonstrated by the church having a female teaching pastor functioning in the office of pastor.”
Saddleback has the right to appeal the decision at the Southern Baptists' next annual meeting, scheduled for New Orleans in June. It did not respond immediately to requests for comment on the Executive Committee decision.
With its main campus in Lake Forest, south of Los Angeles, Saddleback Church has grown to 14 locations in Southern California, with an average weekly attendance of 30,000. There are four international campuses —in Hong Kong, Germany, the Philippines and Argentina.
“The church should be a place where both men and women can exercise those spiritual gifts,” Wood told The Associated Press last year. “My wife has the spiritual gift of teaching and she is really good. People often tell me she’s better than me when it comes to preaching, and I’m really glad to hear that.”
The Executive Committee also voted to oust five other congregations – four over the issue of women as pastors and one over the issue of sexual abuse.
The five churches ousted for having women as pastors “have been valued, cooperating churches for many years, and this decision was not made lightly,” Committee Chairman Jared Wellman said in a statement. "However, we remain committed to upholding the theological convictions of the SBC and maintaining unity among its cooperating churches.”
The Executive Committee voted to cut ties with New Faith Mission Ministry of Griffin, Georgia, and St. Timothy’s Christian Baptist in Baltimore, citing their “lack of intent to cooperate in resolving a question” arising from the churches having women senior pastors.
And it voted to cut ties with Fern Creek Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky, and Calvary Baptist Church in Jackson, Mississippi, both for having female lead pastors, indicating they have a “faith and practice” at odds with the convention's.
In other business:
-- The SBC’s Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force recommended using New York-based Guidepost Solutions to establish and maintain a database of pastors who have been “credibly accused” of sexual abuse at an estimated cost of between $1.5 million and $2 million.
Marshall Blalock, the task force’s chairman, said Guidepost has developed a new faith-based division led by Samantha Kilpatrick, a Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary alumnus.
-- The Executive Committee’ presidential search committee announced that its members were continuing to interview candidates for the position of Executive Committee president and chief executive officer.
-- The Executive Committee approved a an operating budget of $8.3 million while learning about a $6.7 billion decrease in net assets over the last fiscal year. Mike Bianchi, interim chief financial officer for the Executive Committee said the decrease resulted from the cost of the Guidepost investigation, legal fees, a continuing investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice, and the implementation of sexual abuse reforms in the SBC.
-- The Executive Committee approved budget projections that set Cooperative Program receipts and allocations at more than $195 million. Those projections will be presented to SBC messengers at the annual meeting in June.
