Albert Mohler Warns SBC Is at a ‘Breaking Point’ Over Female Pastors

Dr. R. Albert Mohler Jr. warned Southern Baptists Thursday, April 16, that the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) has reached a “breaking point” over the issue of female pastors. Mohler, who is president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, urged his fellow Southern Baptists to finally adopt an amendment at this year’s annual meeting stating that the role of pastor is for men alone.

“I think we’ve reached a breaking point,” said Mohler in a video posted to his YouTube channel Thursday. “I’m hearing from pastors and Baptist leaders all over, just saying, ‘You know, we have got to move forward.’” 

“I still believe that the most effective way to deal with this is with a bylaw amendment, such as was proposed to the SBC and received clear support but not enough to reach the bylaw majority requirement,” Mohler said. “I think the bylaw is the efficient, constitutional way to do this in keeping with our polity.” 

“So I am enthusiastically in support of such an effort,” he said. “I think it should have been adopted. I think with every day that passes, the reason for it becomes more clear.”

Albert Mohler: Confusion Over Female Pastors Is ‘Very Dangerous’ for SBC’s Future

The Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination in the United States, holds its annual meeting every year in June. This year’s annual meeting will take place in Orlando, Florida, June 9-10. Two hot-button issues in the convention over the past several years have been abuse reform and female pastors. 

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The “Law Amendment,” first proposed in 2022 by Pastor Mike Law, sought to formally amend the SBC Constitution to clarify that the convention does not affirm or employ women as pastors of any kind. 

The SBC’s statement of faith, the Baptist Faith & Message 2000 (BFM) already limits the pastoral office to men, stating, “While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor/elder/overseer is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.” Mohler was on the committee that crafted the BFM 2000. 

The Law Amendment was referred to the SBC Executive Committee (EC), which decided in 2023 to bring it to SBC delegates, known as messengers, for a vote. The result was that messengers provided the necessary two-thirds majority to advance the amendment. Constitutional changes require supermajority approval in two consecutive annual meetings, so the two-thirds majority vote in 2023 set the stage for a high-stakes ratification vote the following year. 

Despite maintaining majority support, the effort ultimately failed to be ratified at the SBC’s 2024 annual meeting in Indianapolis. The amendment received 61.45% of the vote, falling short of the required two-thirds threshold.