Southern Baptists focus on women in recent votes on who can be pastors and IVF
What to know about the Southern Baptist Convention votes surrounding IVF and female pastors.
Women were at the center of two votes from this week’s Southern Baptist Convention.
One that would have banned female pastors, who already are not permitted, failed. The other, which passed, condemned in vitro fertilization.
But in reality, the measures change little about day-to-day life within the congregation.
Women were already unable to be pastors in Southern Baptist Congregation
The Southern Baptist Convention this week failed to get enough votes to ban female pastors, but the group already has an official doctrine that says the office of pastor is limited to men. Even opponents of the ban noted the proposal’s redundancy.
According to the Associated Press, opponents said the Southern Baptists already can oust Southern Baptist churches that allow women pastors — which it did last year and again on Tuesday.
Ultimately, the resolution received 61.4% of the vote but it needed a two-thirds majority to pass.
Meredith Stone, executive director of Baptist Women in Ministry, said her group “grieved that this vote has ever even taken place” adding that it “demonstrates that women in ministry are still devalued”.
Supporters of the amendment said that strong language opposing women pastors would make the Convention’s position on issues like LGBTQ+ rights more clear.
Groups like the Human Rights Campaign say the position of the Southern Baptists — which does not ordain openly LGBTQ+ people — is already clear.
Southern Baptist votes to condemn IVF
As for the IVF proposal, the resolution urged its congregants to only support reproductive efforts that uphold the “unconditional value and right to life of every human being, including those in an embryonic stage,” and criticized IVF.
The resolution called the practice “dehumanizing” and urged the U.S. government to “restrain” from the medical practice.
Still, some Baptist leaders spoke about IVF with gratitude, detailing their experiences and urging a softening of the resolution’s language.
Daniel Taylor, a deacon with Charity Baptist Church in Paris, Michigan, said his godson was born through IVF.
“Because of him, I thank God for IVF,” he said, adding that passing the resolution would condemn the “entirely moral and ethical actions” of parents who are hoping to have or have had a child through IVF.
The resolution passed anyway, but is not enforcable.
It recommends members of the congregation use alternative fertility therapies or adopt existing frozen embryos and only use reproductive technologies “consistent” with the “unconditional value and right to life of every human.”
Among other Christian groups, many conservative Christians already largely oppose IVF. Catholic teaching forbids IVF, but many Catholics pursue the treatment anyway, the New York Times reports.
As noted by Reuters, the move marks the latest sign that U.S. evangelicals — a powerful community that helped drive Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential election victory — are broadening their anti-abortion efforts following the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Who are the Southern Baptists and what’s the convention about?
The Southern Baptist Convention is considered the largest Protestant denomination in the United States with nearly 13 million members, mainly in the American South.
Every year, the group gathers for an annual convention and meeting. This year’s was in Indianapolis and took place from Sunday through Wednesday.
Former Vice President Mike Pence spoke at a luncheon.
The group says its convention and resolutions give attendees a chance to weigh in on topical issues, but the resolutions are not enforceable rules.