NewSpring Church Voluntarily Leaves SBC Over Female Pastors Controversy

NewSpring Church, a megachurch with multiple locations in South Carolina, has voluntarily withdrawn from the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). This decision came despite the denomination’s Credential Committee reaffirming its cooperation with the church following an inquiry.

The inquiry into whether NewSpring should still be considered “in friendly cooperation” with the SBC was launched last year after concerns were raised about the fact that a woman serves as a teacher pastor for NewSpring. The Baptist Faith & Message 2000 (BFM), which serves as a shared statement of faith for churches in the SBC, states that the “office of pastor/elder/overseer is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.” To remain in fellowship with the denomination, churches must have a faith and practice that “closely aligns” with this and other convictions outlined in the BFM.

While NewSpring does not allow women to serve as elders, it does allow them to serve in pastoral leadership positions and to preach to mixed gender groups. The church has several pastors on its preaching team, one of whom is a woman.

In February, the Credentials Committee closed the inquiry on NewSpring without recommending that the church be removed from the denomination—a decision that stirred controversy online. The decision highlighted disagreements within the SBC about terminology, as well as about whether non-elders can serve as preachers.

For more conservatively-minded Southern Baptists, the terms “elder” and “pastor” are synonymous, and women are barred from preaching in mixed gender settings. For Southern Baptists who are more moderate, the terms “elder” and “pastor” represent two separate roles, with elders having the final say in church leadership decisions and pastors exercising gifts of preaching and congregational care. While these Southern Baptists bar women from serving as elders, they allow women to serve as pastors.

Whether these more moderate Southern Baptists are still welcome in the denomination has been a live question for several years, but the SBC has been trending in a more conservative direction. Among those calling the Credential Committee’s decision into question was Pastor Clint Pressley, who is the current SBC president. He posted, “My understanding is that our Credentials Committee deemed a church in friendly cooperation that has a female teaching pastor. The committee needs to take another look at this one. Our statement of faith is clear about qualifications for a pastor.”

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