We hear, about seven and a half months before the event, that Albert Mohler is willing to be nominated for SBC president. It’s a little early for this but here we are.
May I guess that it’s not Calvinism that will define his candidacy nor the discussion before, during, and if he’s elected, after the convention. It will be that most prickly matter in Southern Baptist life these days, complementarianism.
‘Ask Al anything’ is my shorthand of the title of the tour by our leading intellectual and flagship seminary president. I appreciate that he does this. I also appreciate that some questions cannot be answered in simple, short, succinct sound bites.
The question was “what are your thoughts on women preaching to the gathered church? Is there room for this in the Baptist Faith and Message?”
There’s a long answer, about 13 minutes given below. I’m not going to transcribe it. You can listen.
Executive summary of the answer: No. Women cannot preach to the gathered assembly nor at anything that looks like a gathered church. I suppose we should expect that to be the standard. According to Mohler, the office of pastor/elder is the function, and vice versa; hence, no women of any ordination status preaching or teaching.
There’s a good bit more. Check it out.
I suppose this means Lottie, Annie, Beth, Bertha and any other of the female persuasion should ever stand in front of the gathered assembly and do anything that looks like preaching or teaching. Mohler did give the green light to women reading scripture and praying, so there’s that.
The question is how aggressive will associations, state conventions, and the national SBC be on this? Will they move to exclude churches that have women preaching or teaching to anything that looks like the gathered assembly, or, will action be reserved for the office itself?
Gonna be an interesting six months.
