I originally posted this on Friday afternoon. After a night to think about it I have come in on Saturday morning to edit it. So if you read it on Friday I hope you will give me a little grace and reread it. No one contacted me about the first posting, I was just not completely comfortable with how it came across after I reflected on it for awhile.
With a little time to reflect and SLEEP, I wanted to write a “wrap-up” post. Denominational happenings is not the chief message that I share as pastor, but the church did allow me to go and I wanted to record my thoughts and accounts. This may not be the last blog of the summer, so stay tuned.
I had failed to mention that the so-called “Law Amendment” did not get the necessary 2/3 majority and so did not pass. That means there will not be an amendment to constitution saying that any church who has a woman serving as a “pastor” of any kind would be consider not in good fellowship with the convention. There were various reasons to have voted against this amendment, see an article here from Dr. Todd Fisher, President of Oklahoma Baptists.
My reasons were different as well and I will try to briefly outline them here, please contact me for more clarification or to discuss this or anything else further. UBC is a place where questions can be asked and I hope you will ask them being open to the example of Christ, the words of Scripture, and the work of the Holy Spirit to provide answers.
I voted against this amendment because for me the issue of women as pastors is an interpretive issue. Many will point to 1 Timothy 3:1-7 as the definitive passage on this issue and support it with a few others. Others would look at examples in Scripture and other texts and come to a different conclusion. Certainly when it comes to giftedness, the Holy Spirit is in charge of handing those out and I am not to keen on making that decision for the Spirit, only prayerfully recognizing it. At UBC we have women usinhg their gifts as deacons, Sunday school teachers, missions leaders, worship leaders and in preaching and teaching. The women who currently serve on staff have asked for the title of “director” because that goes along with their since of call and function. Our local church has affirmed their distinctions and honored their preferences.
I think the variance of interpretations is healthy and do not see this particular isssue as a first tier, uber important issue of fellowship. Furthermore, the Baptist Faith and Message is a confessional statement that we voluntarily align with and uniform acceptance does not seem to be necessary. If we come to a point that uniform acceptance is necessary it would seem to need to cover all the articles not just one. But we are not there and I would rather us not go there. Different, local Baptist churches while using the Baptist Faith and Message as a guide function according to their convictional interpretation. Some might even use a different edition of the BFM. Employees of Baptist institutions have to make their personal choice on what that institution may ask of them in this matter.
We differ with each other at UBC, and we differ with other's who support the work of the SBC and I think that’s okay. Let us rest in and on Jesus, let us preach Jesus, let us embody Jesus, and let us be Jesus, together.