NEWS: SBC and PCA strengthen complementarian commitments

The annual meetings of the Southern Baptist Convention and the Presbyterian Church in America both featured affirmations of complementarian convictions this June. 

The Southern Baptist Convention, which met on June 8–10 in Orlando, passed a measure to amend the constitution to provide further clarity on the ways that churches with women pastors are not in friendly cooperation with the convention. 

The “Truth and Unity Amendment,” championed by CBMW council member R. Albert Mohler, Jr., specifies that any church in friendly cooperation with the convention “does not act to affirm, appoint, or endorse a woman serving in the office or function of a pastor/elder/overseer, specifically preaching to the assembled congregation.” The amendment does not change anything in the convention’s doctrinal statement, but rather defines the boundaries of friendly cooperation in light of multiple years’ worth of debate on the best way to address the issue.  

“The Southern Baptist Convention is the nation’s largest Protestant denomination of churches,” said CBMW President Denny Burk. “It is significant that messengers voted so overwhelmingly in favor of biblical clarity on the qualifications for pastoral office. Hopefully, we can sustain this momentum through the second vote next summer in Indianapolis.”

The amendment passed with 75% of the messengers voting in favor, with Executive Director Colin Smothers speaking in favor of the amendment on the floor of the convention. In order to ratify the amendment, a two-thirds majority will need to vote in favor again at next year’s annual meeting in Indianapolis.

Burk has written his reflections on the amendment and next year’s vote on his site. Burk, Smothers, and Jon Swan have discussed the events of the SBC in multiple podcasts, one reviewing the convention, one as a preview to the amendment, and another with Mohler to discuss the issue of female pastors in the convention.

Just two weeks after the SBC’s annual meeting, an overture was approved at the general assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America to declare CBMW’s Danvers Statement “as a Biblically Faithful Declaration.” The motion comes seven years after the 2019 general assembly approved a similar overture to declare the Nashville Statement biblically faithful. 

In addition to declaring the Danvers Statement biblically faithful, the overture refers the statement “to the Committee on Discipleship Ministries for inclusion and promotion among its denominational teaching materials.”  

Among the given rationale for the overture, it is noted that the Danvers Statement clearly articulates biblical complementarianism, responds to contemporary threats to biblical teaching, and provides unity and clarity in a divided evangelical landscape.

The general assembly also rejected a proposal that would have allowed for women to be ordained as deacons. The PCA limits the office of deacon — an authoritative ordained role within the denomination’s polity — to men, and the proposal was to remove the limit and include women as candidates for deacons. 

“The Presbyterian Church in America is a pace-setting denomination within evangelicalism,” said Burk. “I am grateful that they declared the Danvers Statement a faithful declaration of biblical conviction. This kind of clarity will serve their churches well. I’m also grateful that the PCA voted decisively to maintain its ordination standards for deacons. This move was crucial for maintaining complementarian integrity within their polity.”

The CBMW podcast previewed the PCA general assembly with Ligon Duncan and Mel Duncan, prominent figures within the Presbyterian denomination.

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