Historic Florida Church Leaves Southern Baptist Convention Over Female Pastors Ordination Ban

A years-long campaign to ban women’s ordination in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) has prompted the 155-year-old First Baptist Church in Gainesville, Florida, to leave its ranks.

The church announced its decision in anticipation of a vote at the SBC’s annual national conference on an amendment to ban churches with female pastors. At 12.3 million members, the SBC is America’s largest Protestant denomination.

“To treat women as other than or less than — and that includes where and how they can serve — I just don’t think that honors God,” First Baptist pastor Ray Johnson told Roys Report (RR). “I don’t believe that’s the design for the church.”

Local church delegates, called “messengers,” approved the amendment June 10 in Orlando, Florida, with 74.6% voting in favor. The amendment must pass at next year’s meeting to take effect.

The “Truth and Unity Amendment” is the official title of the measure, but First Baptist church administrator Greg Magruder questions whether the vote brought unity. He told RR that this northern Florida congregation, which has ordained female pastors since at least 1984, had hoped to stay in the SBC and work through the differences.

“The truth is, we as a church have never wanted to be kicked out of an association or try to cause any kind of disturbance,” Magruder told RR. “It wasn’t our choice. They’ve kind of pushed us out.”

At a March semiannual meeting of the local North Central Florida Baptist Association (NCFBA), officials voted to disfellowship from First Baptist because of the church’s female pastors. NCFBA, a regional association, partners with the statewide Florida Baptist Convention, which is associated with the SBC.

“(Johnson) reminded the association that all Christians interpret Scripture imperfectly and should approach one another with grace rather than punitive action,” Magruder wrote in a press release issued May 28.

Seeing the handwriting on the wall, Magruder said, First Baptist left all three associations on April 26.

Ahead of this week’s SBC annual conference, Magruder wrote about First Baptist’s decision in a press release first published May 28 in Baptist News Global.

“As 20,000 expected messengers gather in June in Orlando, the Southern Baptist Convention plans to further dismantle a great denomination once united around missions and evangelism,” Magruder wrote. “Through a proposed constitutional amendment, w

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