Southern Baptist public policy arm survives challenge to its conservative credentials
DALLAS (AP) — Southern Baptist representatives on Wednesday fended off two efforts to move the staunchly conservative body even more sharply to the right, giving a vote of confidence to its public-policy agency and defeating a proposed constitutional ban on churches with women pastors.
The votes came just before the adjournment of the two-day annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation's largest Protestant denomination.
Church 'messengers' voted 3,744-2,819 to retain their public policy agency, rejecting calls for its abolition from those who allege the entity is tainted by liberal affiliations on immigration issues and who want it to be even more conservative than it already is.
The bid to enshrine a ban on churches with women pastors in the SBC constitution received a 3,421-2,191 vote, but that 61% majority fell short of the two-thirds support needed to initiate a constitutional ban.
The measures reflect debate only on the degree of conservatism in the SBC. It comes just a day after messengers overwhelmingly endorsed a call to overturn the Supreme Court's Obergefell v. Hodges decision legalizing same-sex marriage, and any other court and legislative actions with similar results. And it comes in a denomination that officially opposes women pastors, and where the debate is over whether that applies to women in subordinate pastoral roles.
The action affirming the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission amounted to a vote of confidence in the public advocacy voice of the nation's largest evangelical body, coming at a time when Christian conservatives have unprecedented influence in Washington.
Willy Rice, senior pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Clearwater, Florida, said he filed the motion to abolish the ERLC with the aim of making it heed member criticisms. Had the measure passed, he argued, it would have given the agency time to enact changes by next year's annual meeting, when its fate would have come up for a final vote.
'But make no mistake, this motion is a wake-up call,' he said.
But Richard Land, a former longtime president of the commission, said it would be 'tragic' to silence Baptists' voice in Washington.
'We have more opportunity right now to influence public policy in our nation's capital than we have had in my lifetime,' Land said. 'We have a president who is more sympathetic. … We have more congressmen and senators who are sympathetic to what we as Southern Baptists are trying to do, and to turn back the barbarians at the gate in our culture.'
President Donald Trump has created at least three religion-focused entities with a strong evangelical Christian influence, reflecting the overwhelming support he's received from that demographic.
Brent Leatherwood, president of the ERLC, presented a slideshow in defense of the organization. It included a photo of him with House Speaker Mike Johnson, a fellow Southern Baptist. A day before the vote, an ERLC event championed a Tennessee ban on certain medical treatments for transgender minors that faces a Supreme Court challenge.
Abolishing the organization 'means the public square would be abandoned by the SBC, losing a powerful voice for the truth of the Gospel and in effect, rewarding secular efforts to push religion out,' Leatherwood said.
What does the ERLC do?
While not a lobbying organization, the ERLC has advocated against abortion and transgender rights. It has promoted a strongly pro-Israel stance, a longtime evangelical priority. The commission has also provided ultrasound machines for organizations that seek to dissuade women from having abortions.
Leatherwood credited the ERLC with advocating for the repeal of Roe v. Wade, which was realized in a 2022 Supreme Court decision ending the nationwide right to an abortion. That was followed by abortion bans in several states. Leatherwood also touted ERLC advocacy for a pending congressional move to defund Planned Parenthood.
But some criticism focused on the ERLC's opposition to criminal penalties for women who seek abortions.
'Time after time, they've opposed righteous pro-life legislation that seeks equal justice for the unborn, arguing that those who choose abortion should face no legal consequences,' Ethan Jago, pastor of Five Bridges Church in Panama City, Florida, said in calling for the vote to abolish the commission.
Rice contended that 'outside progressive advocacy organizations have financially supported' the commission. But Leatherwood said more than 98% of commission funding comes from the SBC, with the remaining coming Baptist state conventions and individuals.
While the ERLC has been criticized for its advocacy on immigration reform, the commission says it has promoted only stances in keeping with official SBC resolutions calling for both the rule of law and respect for human dignity.
Women in pastoral roles debated
The proposal on women pastors was a rerun of recent years' meetings. A similar proposal received two-thirds of votes in 2023, but fell just short of the necessary supermajority in 2024.
Wednesday's vote sought to restart the process.
The denomination's official statement of belief, the Baptist Faith and Message, reserves the role of pastor to men.
Southern Baptist churches are self-governing. But the convention can kick them out if deemed not in 'friendly cooperation,' based in part on how closely they adhere to the Baptist Faith and Message on issues such as women pastors.
But there remain disagreements over whether the faith statement applies only to women as a senior pastor or similar role, or whether it applies to ministry assistants with the title of pastor.
In recent years, the convention began purging churches that either had women as lead pastors or asserted that they could serve that role. That included one of its largest congregations, California's Saddleback Church.
But when an SBC committee this year retained a South Carolina megachurch with a woman on its pastoral staff, some argued this proved the need for a constitutional amendment. The church later quit the denomination of its own accord.
Other ERLC-related controversies
Criticism has long dogged the ERLC. After Leatherwood last year commended former President Joe Biden — who is deeply unpopular among religious conservatives — for withdrawing his reelection bid, the then-chairman of the commission announced his firing. However, the commission retracted that announcement and the chairman resigned when it became clear that its board's executive committee hadn't agreed to that. Instead, the board gave Leatherwood a strong vote of confidence along with a warning against stirring unnecessary controversy.
A previous commission president drew fire for his harsh criticisms of pro-Trump pastors in 2016.
___
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
MS town election decided by coin toss after votes tied
HOLLY SPRINGS, Miss. — A Holly Springs alderman's race was decided by a coin toss after both candidates received the same number of votes. Sandra Hodges, known to folks in Marshall County as the 'Sunshine Lady,' was ecstatic after a coin toss declared her the newly elected Ward One Alderman for Holly Springs. 'They asked me to pick heads or tail and I picked tail, and it landed on tail,' said Hodges. The election was held at Holly Springs' City Hall with Kaylon Freeman and Sandra Hodges both tied 154 votes to 154 votes each. According to a State statute, 'whenever a race is tied, it shall be decided by a coin toss or drawing of straws.' 'I found that was legal and that was actually the next step, and we had some other residents in town post that information on Facebook as well,' said Paulette Nicole, Campaign Manager for Sandra Hodges. Hodges said she would have preferred a special election to be held to decide the winner is anxious to be sworn in on July 1, along with other elected Holly Springs board members, to start to work for the city. She said all areas need improvement. 'Because this our very first time, historical call on a coin toss. I've never seen it before, I've never been in it before. This is my very first time, but I'm excited about it after I know that I won. I'm the winner, so I'm excited,' said Hodges. WREG reached out to Kaylon Freemon about the coin toss decision, and he acknowledged the Mississippi law allowing for the coin toss in the situation. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Miami Herald
4 hours ago
- Miami Herald
Is religious influence increasing in the US? What Americans said in survey
More Americans said they think the influence of religion is increasing in U.S. society compared to the previous year, a new poll found. Thirty-four percent of U.S. adults said they think religious influence is growing, up 14 percentage points from last year, according to a June 11 Gallup poll. However, a majority of respondents, 59%, still said religion is losing its influence in the country, according to the poll. 'The recent shifts represent a departure from the trend over the past 15 years that has generally seen larger percentages of Americans saying religious influence is decreasing rather than increasing,' researchers said. The survey of 1,003 U.S. adults was taken between May 1-18 and has a margin of error of 4 percentage points. Exact reasons behind the shift in opinions are unclear, but it could be 'a reaction to the Republican sweep of the federal government in last fall's election,' researchers said. President Donald Trump has repeatedly vowed to bring religion back to the country. In February, when Trump announced a new task force to investigate 'anti-Christian bias,' he urged Americans to 'bring religion back,' the Associated Press reported. During the White House Easter Egg Roll on April 21, he said: 'We're bringing religion back in America. We're bringing a lot of things back, but religion is coming back to America.' Researchers said a similar shift was recorded in 1994 when Republicans took over Congress for the first time in four decades, but there were no 'meaningful changes' after GOP victories in the 2000, 2010 and 2016 elections. Other notable shifts The highest recorded spike in Americans who said they think religious influence is increasing happened following the 9/11 terrorist attacks on America, when the number jumped 32 percentage points to 71%, according to the poll. More recently, researchers saw a surge during the COVID-19 pandemic, when 38% of Americans said they saw more religious influence in society, up from 19% pre-pandemic, the poll found. Which groups think religion in America is increasing? More Democrats, 41%, said they think 'religion as a whole is increasing its influence on American life,' compared with 35% of Republicans and 31% of Independents who said the same thing, according to the poll. Individuals associated with no religion said they think religion is growing at slightly higher rates than Protestants and Catholics, 36% compared to 33% and 35%, respectively, the poll found. Younger adults, those between 18 and 29 years old, also said they believe religious influence is increasing at higher rates than the rest of Americans, according to the poll.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Opinion - School choice continues to expand, even in blue and purple states
Press reports tend to draw a hard line between the 17 states which enacted universal school choice programs when both their legislatures and governors were Republican and the 33 others which have not. But it would be more accurate to say that choice is expanding everywhere, just with different structures. Even in states where at least one branch of government remains opposed to funding non-public education, the rapid growth of three inexpensive K-12 schooling options is making choice a reality for more students. The most popular of these low-cost alternatives is the so-called 'microschool,' a small educational venue which typically serves 16 pupils or less. Spontaneously formed by neighboring families during COVID-19, when the public schools were closed and open private schools were filled to capacity, these small-scale programs have continued to multiply, offering a more personalized learning experience in blue states as well as red. Today, according to National Microschooling Center CEO Dan Soifer, there are around 95,000 microschools across the U.S. serving over 1.5 million K-12 students. Another economical non-public option which has spread to states without legalized school choice is the 'church learning center.' As the name implies, this is a school which operates within a house of worship, typically during weekdays and at other times when its facilities are not used for religious services. Depending on the size of the church, its learning center can be as small as a microschool or serve hundreds of students. An accurate count of these church learning centers is harder to make, in part because there is no national organization representing all of them and also because the larger ones are reluctant to publicize themselves in ways that might invite regulation as a conventional private school. But a clear indicator of their popularity is the growing number of regional and denominational organizations dedicated to helping churches organize their own programs. In Kansas, for example, homeschool mom of six Delana Wallace runs the Heartland Education Reformation Organization, a nonprofit that advocates for 15 parish-sited schools and connects local clergy with educators interested in starting new ones. And in Boston, the city's Family Institute has successfully guided more than 20 religious groups in establishing their own Christian learning centers. At the other end of the country, in California, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles has encouraged the formation of five such schools. The third and final low-cost teaching venue is the 'hybrid school,' a term which refers less to a school's size, location, or curriculum than to how its students divide their time: two or three days a week online at home, and the other days in a more organized group setting. The provider of the structured portion can be a microschool or church learning center, but also a college, business, foundation or public charter school. One of the newer hybrid options is the traditional private or parochial school which runs a separate part-time academy. For example, the Canterbury Christian School in Los Altos, Calif., offers local homeschooled children a two day per week package of more conventional classroom instruction. 'If you're trying to support a family in a place like Silicon Valley, where ordinary homes cost $3-to-$4 million,' says the school's headmaster, Rev. Steve Macias, 'it's not easy to pay [our full-time tuition] with after-tax dollars.' What clearly helps all three kinds of low-cost schools to control their expenses is family involvement in program administration. Students' mothers and fathers work as classroom aids, break and lunchroom monitors, carpooling drivers, sports coaches and even teachers. Church learning centers have the added benefit of being able to draw on volunteer labor from their congregations. The second factor which controls expenses for these schools is that their typical student is registered as a homeschooler, which exempts them from a considerable regulatory burden. From the government's point of view, it is not the microschool, church learning center, or hybrid facility where the child is being educated, but the family home. The school itself is viewed as something more like a tutoring company, although the most accurate descriptor for the vast majority of them would be 'collaborative homeschool.' The final factor which has enabled microschools, church learning centers and hybrid schools to be seen as affordable options, even in the absence of government funding, is that all three of them have become increasingly reliant on the so-called 'classical curriculum.' That is to say, a curriculum which emphasizes logical reasoning over the memorization of facts, and the reading of the great books of Western civilization, especially those which inspired America's Founders. And while this educational methodology is not necessarily any less expensive than others, the evidence for its efficacy has convinced growing numbers of parents that they are getting an exceptional academic return for their investment. As the American Enterprise Institute's director of Education Policy Studies, Frederick M. Hess, has documented, classically educated students get exceptionally high scores on standardized achievement tests. As a result, they also have unusually high college acceptance rates. They even outperform on the SAT — an exam that the classical curriculum does not even attempt to 'teach to.' As for the actual cost of a microschool, church learning center or hybrid school, the answer depends on such factors as the ratio of paid staff to volunteers, the rent required to obtain a venue, and the extracurricular activities provided. On the low end is the Cornerstone Church in Uxbridge, Mass., which has long hosted a parent-run school called DELTIC Prep, short for 'Doing Education in Life Together in Christ.' It annually educates 70 to 90 students across multiple grades for just $15 to $75 each per year. There are programs which cost as much as $5,000 to $10,000, but still less than a conventional private or parochial school in their areas. Given the continuing reluctance of blue and purple state politicians to fund non-public education, school choice is indeed coming to their communities in a different way than in more conservative jurisdictions. But it is coming. Lewis M. Andrews is chair of the Kids' Scholarship Fund. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
