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

A subsequent iteration of the Law Amendment, known as the “Sanchez Amendment,” was introduced at the 2025 annual meeting in Dallas but failed to move forward, with only 60.74% in favor.

Mohler said that he wanted to address his “fellow Southern Baptists,” particularly in light of the upcoming SBC annual meeting in Orlando. He noted, “I want to be careful in what I say, but I also want to be clear in what I say.”

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“I think the bottom line is that Southern Baptists—I’m hearing this from just all over, and I think it’s understandable and it’s right—Southern Baptists want this issue clarified,” Mohler said. “The vast majority of Southern Baptists, and by that I mean the overwhelming majority of Southern Baptists, are absolutely clear and have been all along, that the office of pastor is restricted to men as qualified by Scripture.” 

“And by ‘pastor,’ they mean pastor. And as we’re talking in this conversation now, it should be clear that means every use of ‘pastor,’” said Mohler, alluding to those who feel the word is unclear, as well as to churches that use titles such as “women’s pastor” or “children’s pastor.”

“And beyond that, if you’re going to try to just change the name ‘pastor’ to something else like ‘shepherd,’ that’s not going to work,” he said. “We know what you mean.”

Mohler observed that Southern Baptists “are tied together by voluntary cooperation based on convictional commonality.” Each SBC congregation is an autonomous unit, but churches can be deemed to be “out of cooperation” with the denomination and subsequently disfellowshipped. 

For example, Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church was disfellowshipped in 2023 for having female pastors after its status had already been in jeopardy for some time. One of the notable events that occurred at the 2022 annual meeting was that the Credentials Committee recommended a study committee into Saddleback’s use of the title “pastor.” More recently, the SBC Executive Committee disfellowshipped two churches in February for having female pastors.

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In his Thursday video, Mohler said that he was in favor of the SBC affirming its opposition to female pastors “by any and every means possible.” 

“In other words, I don’t think you choose among the buttons here,” he said.

“I think you do just about everything that’s appropriate originated by messengers in the form of anything, from resolutions to whatever appropriate parliamentary action needs to be taken,” said Mohler, “to express the will of the convention on this matter in ways that should instruct the entire convention.”