Southern Baptists Set \\u2018Pivotal\\u2019 Meeting June 10-12<\\/strong><\\/h2>\\n Funding for sexual abuse reform, an amendment to officially ban female pastors and the election of a new Southern Baptist Convention president will top the agenda at the upcoming SBC annual meeting June 10-12 in Indianapolis.<\\/p>\\n As an outsider looking at the SBC, I have mixed feelings. First and foremost, it isn\\u2019t any of my business because I left Southern Baptist denomination a lifetime ago. And while I have a few opinions about the meeting, I want to set aside my thoughts and beliefs and detach myself from the proceedings to write this article \\u2013 but I am human, so\\u2026.<\\/p>\\n Before we begin, let me say that I have a great deal of sympathy for women and children victimized by leaders of any church. Sadly, sexual abuse is often systemic, as it is in Southern Baptist churches. In 2022, the SBC released a previously secret list of several hundred pastors and other leaders accused of sexual abuse.<\\/p>\\n Power may motivate some sexual abuse as much as lust does. In the SBC \\u2013 as in several other large denominations \\u2013 men are in control, and women are taught to be submissive. It\\u2019s ingrained in them, and I\\u2019m thankful to be free of it.<\\/p>\\n The pastor of my church is a woman, and she has taught me more about Christ, the Bible and Christian living than many of the men who have pastored churches I have attended.<\\/p>\\n My pastor grew up in a fundamentalist church that bans female pastors, and she left her childhood denomination when God called her to be a minister. Thank God she did. I\\u2019m grateful for her wisdom and knowledge, and I\\u2019m glad to be part of a denomination that allows women, as well as men, to reach their full God-given potential.<\\/p>\\n With all that said, I have tried to detach myself and give you a fair and honest preview of next week\\u2019s SBC meeting.<\\/p>\\n A Pivotal SBC Annual Meeting<\\/strong><\\/h3>\\n \"SBC Preparations for the Annual Southern Baptist Convention are underway in Indianapolis. Image courtesy of Jonathan Howe, Vice President for Communications, SBC.<\\/figcaption><\\/figure>\\n The SBC\\u2019s annual meeting came to my attention several days ago when the\\u00a0<\\/em><\\/strong>Nashville Tennessean<\\/a><\\/em> ran an intriguing story under the headline, Southern Baptists Set for Pivotal Annual Meeting in Indianapolis.<\\/em><\\/p>\\n** Having written about the United Methodist Church\\u2019s recent General Conference<\\/a>, I was interested in an important meeting of another major Christian denomination. And the issues on the SBC agenda will involve women, one way or another.<\\/p>\\n One major agenda item will be funding for the new nonprofit task force that the SBC established to oversee sexual abuse reform. Another will be the decision on whether to officially ban female pastors, and yet another will be the election of SBC\\u2019s next president.<\\/p>\\n Predicting the outcomes of these debates will be more difficult this year than in previous years, according to the Tennessean<\\/em>. \\u201cUnlike the past couple of years when policy positions divided along two main coalitions, a more fragmented array of voting blocs this year makes it harder to predict how certain groups of delegates, called messengers, will vote,\\u201d the newspaper explained.<\\/p>\\n Supporting Sexual Abuse Reform<\\/strong><\\/h3>\\n******* *\* The major question regarding sex abuse reform this year is money. SBC recently announced the creation of a nonprofit organization to oversee long-term reforms and improve the SBC\\u2019s accountability.<\\/p>\\n *\* \\u201cMajor SBC-affiliated agencies, called entities, haven\\u2019t volunteered that seed money as the nonprofit\\u2019s backers hoped,\\u201d The Nashville Tennessean <\\/em>reported. \\u201cIt potentially leaves the current SBC Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force to ask the convention directly for support\\u2026.<\\/p>\\n *\* \\u201cLong-time skeptics of abuse reform are leveraging this uncertainty to allay other doubts, such as the increasingly burdensome legal costs to the SBC Executive Committee to fight abuse-related lawsuits.\\u201d<\\/p>\\n *\* *******The question over funding is undoubtedly slowing progress on abuse reform.<\\/p>\\n Large-Scale Sexual Abuse<\\/strong><\\/h3>\\n********* *\* The SBC has been accused of covering up hundreds of allegations of sexual abuse by church leaders, ministers, workers and others. The scandal may seem like old news. But it isn\\u2019t.<\\/p>\\n *\* *********The Tennessean <\\/em>and other news outlets reported only days ago that the U.S. Department of Justice has charged a former Southern Baptist seminary professor with falsifying records to cover up a report of sexual abuse and then lying about evidence tampering.<\\/p>\\n Matt Queen, a former professor at the SBC\\u2019s Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and current pastor in North Carolina, has denied the charges against him. Read more here.<\\/a><\\/p>\\n Previous allegations involving hundreds of SBC leaders were allegedly ignored or silenced by the organization\\u2019s leaders, according to NPR. \\u201cMeanwhile, the church kept a secret list of over 700 offenders. The list was even kept secret from most of the church\\u2019s leaders.\\u201d<\\/p>\\n In 2019, a team of reporters from the Houston Chronicle <\\/em>and the San Antonio Express-News <\\/em>wrote a series of explosive articles on sex abuse in the SBC. \\u201cThe reporters found that hundreds of Southern Baptist Convention church leaders and volunteers had been criminally charged with sex crimes since 2000,\\u201d according to NPR.<\\/p>\\n \\u201cThe series also detailed numerous incidents in which denominational leaders mishandled, ignored or concealed warnings that Southern Baptist churches were being targeted by predators,\\u201d NPR said.<\\/p>\\n Unfortunately, sexual abuse in the SBC is alive and well.<\\/p>\\n Banning Female Pastors<\\/strong><\\/h3>\\n*********** *\* Delegates to the SBC annual meeting also will consider an amendment to formally ban women pastors. Females in the pulpit are already frowned upon, and several SBC churches have been expelled for having them.<\\/p>\\n *\* The SBC voted by a large margin at last year\\u2019s annual meeting to uphold the expulsion of two Southern Baptist churches led by women. Those churches are Fern Creek in Louisville, KY, and Saddleback Church, which pastor and author Rick Warren established in Southern California several years ago. Other churches were also expelled but didn\\u2019t appeal their expulsions.<\\/p>\\n *\* Saddleback Church\\u2019s expulsion arose from Warren\\u2019s decision to appoint a husband-and-wife team to succeed him when he retired in 2021. Saddleback compounded the problem, as far as the SBC was concerned, when it appointed three additional women pastors the same year, per the Baptist Press.<\\/p>\\n *\* \\u201cThe (2023) vote to uphold those removals came just a few hours before a two-thirds majority of the Southern Baptist Convention \\u2013 the largest Protestant denomination in the United States \\u2013 separately voted to approve an amendment to its constitution that would more broadly prohibit churches from having women hold any pastoral title,\\u201d CNN reported last June.<\\/p>\\n *\* Outgoing SBC president Bart Barber insisted, \\u201cWe\\u2019re shaped by what we read in the New Testament\\u2026. We believe that the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by scripture.\\u201d<\\/p>\\n *\* ***********Roman Catholics and the Orthodox churches also prohibit women from holding leadership roles, while Methodists, Anglicans, Episcopalians, Evangelical Lutheran, Presbyterian (USA) and the United Church of Christ accept women ministers.<\\/p>\\n The SBC Annual Meeting\\u2019s Presidential Election<\\/strong><\\/h3>\\n The other major issue at the SBC annual meeting is the election of a new president. Six men are vying for the unpaid \\u2014 but powerful \\u2014 position. Learn more here.<\\/a><\\/p>\\n The candidates are:<\\/p>\\n David Allen, dean of Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary\\u2019s preaching center<\\/strong> \\u2013 Rev. Allen is a long-time professor who believes the SBC needs more balance and transparency in leadership, according to the Religion News Service. The seminary is independent of the SBC but describes itself as \\u201cSouthern Baptist in theology.\\u201d<\\/p>\\n Prior to joining the Mid-America faculty, Allen was a preaching professor at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, TX. He believes SBC churches should continue to address the sexual abuse scandal and supports \\u201ca financially prudent plan\\u201d and \\u201cgenuine compassion\\u201d for victims. He termed the issue a \\u201cproblem\\u201d rather than a \\u201ccrisis.\\u201d<\\/p>\\n Clint Pressley, pastor of Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Charlotte, N.C. <\\/strong>\\u2013 Rev. Pressley proposes to keep the SBC on an even keel if elected SBC president. He explained that the rhetoric and temperature within the organization are high and should \\u201ccome down a good bit.\\u201d<\\/p>\\n Pressley says the denomination has done a great deal about sexual abuse, but SBC churches need to be \\u201cmore accountable and responsive.\\u201d He does not support the idea of listing abusive leaders on a website but does support continued focus on background checks and better training to \\u201croot out abusers,\\u201d per the Religion News Service. As for female pastors, he favors the amendment to expel churches led by women.<\\/p>\\n Mike Keahbone, pastor of First Baptist Church of Lawton, OK <\\/strong>\\u2013 Rev. Keahbone, who is Native American, became pastor of the Lawton church during the COVID pandemic. His previous ministries have included serving as a youth minister and traveling evangelist.<\\/p>\\n He is a member of the SBC\\u2019s Executive Committee, has served on the denomination\\u2019s Sex Abuse Task Force and the Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force. Keahbone supports efforts to help SBC churches prevent sex abuse and to assist victims of abuse.<\\/p>\\n Like many Southern Baptists, he opposes the ordination of women pastors but feels that amending the SBC constitution to ban females would hurt SBC churches in minority communities.<\\/p>\\n Bruce Frank, pastor of Biltmore Church in Asheville, N.C. <\\/strong>\\u2013 One of Rev. Frank\\u2019s goals as SBC president would be to help every SBC congregation bring at least one person to the faith and be baptized. New baptisms could revitalize many churches that have lost members, he said.<\\/p>\\n Rev. Frank is recognized for chairing the SBC\\u2019s Sexual Abuse Task Force and supporting a series of reforms in recent years. He said the SBC must make \\u201creforms stick,\\u201d Religion News Service reported.<\\/p>\\n \\u201cSome good progress has been made, but the messengers (meeting delegates) have been pretty resounding in saying there\\u2019s still some more steps that can be taken.\\u201d He does not believe the SBC needs to amend its constitution to ban female pastors, though he thinks men and women should have different roles in the church.<\\/p>\\n Dan Spencer, pastor of First Baptist Church of Sevierville, TN <\\/strong>\\u2013 Rev. Spencer said he didn\\u2019t expect to be a candidate for the SBC presidency but was asked by \\u201cseveral people\\u201d to consider the idea. He explained that he doesn\\u2019t \\u201chave an axe to grind,\\u201d but thinks the SBC may need a consensus builder who focuses on unity.<\\/p>\\n He said he\\u2019s \\u201con board for anything that makes our churches safer and provides better curriculum resources for churches to be more on guard than ever.\\u201d At the same time, he questions the need for a database of sex abusers and fears the danger of false accusations.<\\/p>\\n Spencer does not believe the SBC constitution should be amended to exclude women pastors because the current constitution gives local churches the autonomy to make their own decisions.<\\/p>\\n Jared Moore, pastor of Homesteads Baptist Church in Crossville, TN <\\/strong>\\u2013 Rev. Moore has said the SBC \\u201chas issues,\\u201d but \\u201cthere is a lot to love about the SBC.\\u201d One issue that concerns him is the lack of financial transparency, according to Religion News Service.<\\/p>\\n Moore specifically points to long-term mismanagement of finances at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Its leaders have admitted to deficit spending of $140 million over several decades, and Moore believes they should be more forthcoming with financial information in the future.<\\/p>\\n He also said he isn\\u2019t eager to expel SBC churches who have female pastors. Religion New Service noted that \\u201cclose to 2,000 of the SBC\\u2019s 47,000 churches may have women with the title of pastor, most in a supporting role.\\u201d<\\/p>\\n \\u00a0<\\/p>\\n<\\/body><\\/html>\\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Southern Baptists Set \\u2018Pivotal\\u2019 Meeting June 10-12 Funding for sexual abuse reform, an amendment to officially ban female pastors and the election of a new Southern Baptist Convention president will top the agenda at the upcoming SBC annual meeting June 10-12 in Indianapolis. As an outsider looking at the SBC, I have mixed feelings. 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{"id":5382,"date":"2024-06-06T17:25:02","date_gmt":"2024-06-06T21:25:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/womantowoman\/?p=5382"},"modified":"2024-06-07T11:29:36","modified_gmt":"2024-06-07T15:29:36","slug":"an-outsiders-preview-of-upcoming-sbc-annual-meeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/womantowoman\/2024\/06\/an-outsiders-preview-of-upcoming-sbc-annual-meeting\/","title":{"rendered":"An Outsider’s Preview of Upcoming SBC Annual Meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

A rendering of a convention floor with many attendees (Image rendered by DALL-E for Patheos)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Southern Baptists Set \u2018Pivotal\u2019 Meeting June 10-12<\/strong><\/h2>\n Funding for sexual abuse reform, an amendment to officially ban female pastors and the election of a new Southern Baptist Convention president will top the agenda at the upcoming SBC annual meeting June 10-12 in Indianapolis.<\/p>\n As an outsider looking at the SBC, I have mixed feelings. First and foremost, it isn\u2019t any of my business because I left Southern Baptist denomination a lifetime ago. And while I have a few opinions about the meeting, I want to set aside my thoughts and beliefs and detach myself from the proceedings to write this article \u2013 but I am human, so\u2026.<\/p>\n Before we begin, let me say that I have a great deal of sympathy for women and children victimized by leaders of any church. Sadly, sexual abuse is often systemic, as it is in Southern Baptist churches. In 2022, the SBC released a previously secret list of several hundred pastors and other leaders accused of sexual abuse.<\/p>\n Power may motivate some sexual abuse as much as lust does. In the SBC \u2013 as in several other large denominations \u2013 men are in control, and women are taught to be submissive. It\u2019s ingrained in them, and I\u2019m thankful to be free of it.<\/p>\n The pastor of my church is a woman, and she has taught me more about Christ, the Bible and Christian living than many of the men who have pastored churches I have attended.<\/p>\n My pastor grew up in a fundamentalist church that bans female pastors, and she left her childhood denomination when God called her to be a minister. Thank God she did. I\u2019m grateful for her wisdom and knowledge, and I\u2019m glad to be part of a denomination that allows women, as well as men, to reach their full God-given potential.<\/p>\n With all that said, I have tried to detach myself and give you a fair and honest preview of next week\u2019s SBC meeting.<\/p>\n A Pivotal SBC Annual Meeting<\/strong><\/h3>\n Preparations for the Annual Southern Baptist Convention are underway in Indianapolis. Image courtesy of Jonathan Howe, Vice President for Communications, SBC.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n The SBC\u2019s annual meeting came to my attention several days ago when the\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Nashville Tennessean<\/a><\/em> ran an intriguing story under the headline, Southern Baptists Set for Pivotal Annual Meeting in Indianapolis.<\/em><\/p>\n Having written about the United Methodist Church\u2019s recent General Conference<\/a>, I was interested in an important meeting of another major Christian denomination. And the issues on the SBC agenda will involve women, one way or another.<\/p>\n One major agenda item will be funding for the new nonprofit task force that the SBC established to oversee sexual abuse reform. Another will be the decision on whether to officially ban female pastors, and yet another will be the election of SBC\u2019s next president.<\/p>\n Predicting the outcomes of these debates will be more difficult this year than in previous years, according to the Tennessean<\/em>. \u201cUnlike the past couple of years when policy positions divided along two main coalitions, a more fragmented array of voting blocs this year makes it harder to predict how certain groups of delegates, called messengers, will vote,\u201d the newspaper explained.<\/p>\n Supporting Sexual Abuse Reform<\/strong><\/h3>\n* The major question regarding sex abuse reform this year is money. SBC recently announced the creation of a nonprofit organization to oversee long-term reforms and improve the SBC\u2019s accountability.<\/p>\n \u201cMajor SBC-affiliated agencies, called entities, haven\u2019t volunteered that seed money as the nonprofit\u2019s backers hoped,\u201d The Nashville Tennessean <\/em>reported. \u201cIt potentially leaves the current SBC Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force to ask the convention directly for support\u2026.<\/p>\n \u201cLong-time skeptics of abuse reform are leveraging this uncertainty to allay other doubts, such as the increasingly burdensome legal costs to the SBC Executive Committee to fight abuse-related lawsuits.\u201d<\/p>\n *The question over funding is undoubtedly slowing progress on abuse reform.<\/p>\n Large-Scale Sexual Abuse<\/strong><\/h3>\n*** The SBC has been accused of covering up hundreds of allegations of sexual abuse by church leaders, ministers, workers and others. The scandal may seem like old news. But it isn\u2019t.<\/p>\n The Tennessean <\/em>and other news outlets reported only days ago that the U.S. Department of Justice has charged a former Southern Baptist seminary professor with falsifying records to cover up a report of sexual abuse and then lying about evidence tampering.<\/p>\n Matt Queen, a former professor at the SBC\u2019s Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and current pastor in North Carolina, has denied the charges against him. Read more here.<\/a><\/p>\n Previous allegations involving hundreds of SBC leaders were allegedly ignored or silenced by the organization\u2019s leaders, according to NPR. \u201cMeanwhile, the church kept a secret list of over 700 offenders. The list was even kept secret from most of the church\u2019s leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2019, a team of reporters from the Houston Chronicle <\/em>and the San Antonio Express-News <\/em>wrote a series of explosive articles on sex abuse in the SBC. \u201cThe reporters found that hundreds of Southern Baptist Convention church leaders and volunteers had been criminally charged with sex crimes since 2000,\u201d according to NPR.<\/p>\n \u201cThe series also detailed numerous incidents in which denominational leaders mishandled, ignored or concealed warnings that Southern Baptist churches were being targeted by predators,\u201d NPR said.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, sexual abuse in the SBC is alive and well.<\/p>\n Banning Female Pastors<\/strong><\/h3>\n Delegates to the SBC annual meeting also will consider an amendment to formally ban women pastors. Females in the pulpit are already frowned upon, and several SBC churches have been expelled for having them.<\/p>\n The SBC voted by a large margin at last year\u2019s annual meeting to uphold the expulsion of two Southern Baptist churches led by women. Those churches are Fern Creek in Louisville, KY, and Saddleback Church, which pastor and author Rick Warren established in Southern California several years ago. Other churches were also expelled but didn\u2019t appeal their expulsions.<\/p>\n Saddleback Church\u2019s expulsion arose from Warren\u2019s decision to appoint a husband-and-wife team to succeed him when he retired in 2021. Saddleback compounded the problem, as far as the SBC was concerned, when it appointed three additional women pastors the same year, per the Baptist Press.<\/p>\n \u201cThe (2023) vote to uphold those removals came just a few hours before a two-thirds majority of the Southern Baptist Convention \u2013 the largest Protestant denomination in the United States \u2013 separately voted to approve an amendment to its constitution that would more broadly prohibit churches from having women hold any pastoral title,\u201d CNN reported last June.<\/p>\n Outgoing SBC president Bart Barber insisted, \u201cWe\u2019re shaped by what we read in the New Testament\u2026. We believe that the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by scripture.\u201d<\/p>\n *Roman Catholics and the Orthodox churches also prohibit women from holding leadership roles, while Methodists, Anglicans, Episcopalians, Evangelical Lutheran, Presbyterian (USA) and the United Church of Christ accept women ministers.<\/p>\n The SBC Annual Meeting\u2019s Presidential Election<\/strong><\/h3>\n The other major issue at the SBC annual meeting is the election of a new president. Six men are vying for the unpaid \u2014 but powerful \u2014 position. Learn more here.<\/a><\/p>\n The candidates are:<\/p>\n David Allen, dean of Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary\u2019s preaching center<\/strong> \u2013 Rev. Allen is a long-time professor who believes the SBC needs more balance and transparency in leadership, according to the Religion News Service. The seminary is independent of the SBC but describes itself as \u201cSouthern Baptist in theology.\u201d<\/p>\n Prior to joining the Mid-America faculty, Allen was a preaching professor at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, TX. He believes SBC churches should continue to address the sexual abuse scandal and supports \u201ca financially prudent plan\u201d and \u201cgenuine compassion\u201d for victims. He termed the issue a \u201cproblem\u201d rather than a \u201ccrisis.\u201d<\/p>\n Clint Pressley, pastor of Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Charlotte, N.C. <\/strong>\u2013 Rev. Pressley proposes to keep the SBC on an even keel if elected SBC president. He explained that the rhetoric and temperature within the organization are high and should \u201ccome down a good bit.\u201d<\/p>\n Pressley says the denomination has done a great deal about sexual abuse, but SBC churches need to be \u201cmore accountable and responsive.\u201d He does not support the idea of listing abusive leaders on a website but does support continued focus on background checks and better training to \u201croot out abusers,\u201d per the Religion News Service. As for female pastors, he favors the amendment to expel churches led by women.<\/p>\n Mike Keahbone, pastor of First Baptist Church of Lawton, OK <\/strong>\u2013 Rev. Keahbone, who is Native American, became pastor of the Lawton church during the COVID pandemic. His previous ministries have included serving as a youth minister and traveling evangelist.<\/p>\n He is a member of the SBC\u2019s Executive Committee, has served on the denomination\u2019s Sex Abuse Task Force and the Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force. Keahbone supports efforts to help SBC churches prevent sex abuse and to assist victims of abuse.<\/p>\n Like many Southern Baptists, he opposes the ordination of women pastors but feels that amending the SBC constitution to ban females would hurt SBC churches in minority communities.<\/p>\n Bruce Frank, pastor of Biltmore Church in Asheville, N.C. <\/strong>\u2013 One of Rev. Frank\u2019s goals as SBC president would be to help every SBC congregation bring at least one person to the faith and be baptized. New baptisms could revitalize many churches that have lost members, he said.<\/p>\n Rev. Frank is recognized for chairing the SBC\u2019s Sexual Abuse Task Force and supporting a series of reforms in recent years. He said the SBC must make \u201creforms stick,\u201d Religion News Service reported.<\/p>\n \u201cSome good progress has been made, but the messengers (meeting delegates) have been pretty resounding in saying there\u2019s still some more steps that can be taken.\u201d He does not believe the SBC needs to amend its constitution to ban female pastors, though he thinks men and women should have different roles in the church.<\/p>\n Dan Spencer, pastor of First Baptist Church of Sevierville, TN <\/strong>\u2013 Rev. Spencer said he didn\u2019t expect to be a candidate for the SBC presidency but was asked by \u201cseveral people\u201d to consider the idea. He explained that he doesn\u2019t \u201chave an axe to grind,\u201d but thinks the SBC may need a consensus builder who focuses on unity.<\/p>\n He said he\u2019s \u201con board for anything that makes our churches safer and provides better curriculum resources for churches to be more on guard than ever.\u201d At the same time, he questions the need for a database of sex abusers and fears the danger of false accusations.<\/p>\n Spencer does not believe the SBC constitution should be amended to exclude women pastors because the current constitution gives local churches the autonomy to make their own decisions.<\/p>\n Jared Moore, pastor of Homesteads Baptist Church in Crossville, TN <\/strong>\u2013 Rev. Moore has said the SBC \u201chas issues,\u201d but \u201cthere is a lot to love about the SBC.\u201d One issue that concerns him is the lack of financial transparency, according to Religion News Service.<\/p>\n Moore specifically points to long-term mismanagement of finances at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Its leaders have admitted to deficit spending of $140 million over several decades, and Moore believes they should be more forthcoming with financial information in the future.<\/p>\n He also said he isn\u2019t eager to expel SBC churches who have female pastors. Religion New Service noted that \u201cclose to 2,000 of the SBC\u2019s 47,000 churches may have women with the title of pastor, most in a supporting role.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Southern Baptists Set \u2018Pivotal\u2019 Meeting June 10-12 Funding for sexual abuse reform, an amendment to officially ban female pastors and the election of a new Southern Baptist Convention president will top the agenda at the upcoming SBC annual meeting June 10-12 in Indianapolis. As an outsider looking at the SBC, I have mixed feelings. First […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4662,"featured_media":5418,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1800],"tags":[1815,1809,1812,1806,1803],"class_list":["post-5382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-southern-baptist-convention","tag-sbc-2004-annual-meeting","tag-sbc-and-women-pastors","tag-sbc-presidential-election","tag-sbc-sex-abuse-scandal","tag-southern-baptist-annual-meeting"],"yoast_head":"\nAn Outsider's Preview of Upcoming SBC Annual Meeting<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Funding for sexual abuse reform, an amendment to officially ban female pastors and the election of a new Southern Baptist Convention president will top the agenda\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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