The 1,600 or so current Southern Baptist clergywomen, about 100 of whom are pastors leading congregations, would not lose their credentials. The statement is not binding on individual Southern Baptists, and the 41,000 local congregations would remain free to ordain women. But the statement could affect the denomination's hiring decisions. Caroline Hill, one of a handful of women Southern Baptist pastors, said the Convention's position is narrow-minded. Her congregation in Savannah, Georgia, still supports her, she said.
Some women strongly support the church position on women pastors.
Theologians point to the new revisions as the latest sign that the Southern Baptists are steadily tilting to the right. The Rev. David Key, director of Baptist Studies at Emory University's Candler School of Theology, called the statement a litmus test of who's in and who's out in conservative circles. After they pass this, every denominational bureaucrat, every missionary, every seminary professor is going to have to adhere to the statement. About a dozen congregations quit the denomination. But Southern Baptist leaders said they have gained more churches than they have lost over the years because of their conservative positions.