The motion was seconded and subsequently scheduled for debate during the afternoon of Wednesday, June 11. Discussion began with Sanchez taking the microphone to defend the amendment.
“The aim of this motion is simply to provide help by clarifying what the Baptist Faith & Message already says regarding the office of pastor,” said Sanchez. “We simply hope to provide guidance, further guidance to the Credentials Committee.”
“I’ve heard a number of objections,” Sanchez said. “For example, there are not too many churches [with women pastors], so why are we bothering? Well, [if] there are not too many churches, then…this is the time for us to clarify what we believe.”
“I’ve heard that there could be legal concerns,” he continued, “Well, there will always be legal concerns. Look to the attorneys to give you counsel and guidance. But we are not a people who are governed by attorneys. We are people who are ruled by a book and so trust in what the word of God teaches.”
“Others have said that we’re going after all women on pastoral staffs or any women on any church staff,” said Sanchez, going on to point out that if that were true, his own church would be “disqualified.” Highpointe has “a robust complementarianism” and has “male and female deacons,” said Sanchez.
“The aim of complementarianism is not to limit what women can do in the church but to actually free them to minister in the church in appropriate roles alongside men,” he said.
“We are standing on the shoulders of those who have come before us,” said Sanchez, saying as he concluded, “Let us confess what we believe, let us clarify what we practice, and let us cooperate with conviction.”
EC President Dr. Jeff Iorg spoke next from the stage, explaining why, even though he agrees with the amendment’s position that only men should be pastors, he is opposed to adding the amendment to the constitution.
Iorg first praised the amendment as “perhaps helpful to the Credentials Committee” and as having “the strength of bringing some specificity about a particular issue.” Iorg’s concern was that adding the amendment to the SBC Constitution would expose the SBC to legal risk in a new way.
The SBC is currently dealing with three lawsuits and had been under a now-closed Department of Justice investigation into the SBC’s handling of sexual abuse allegations. “These four matters resulted from decisions made in 2021 and are the source of the financial challenges the Executive Committee has faced on your behalf,” Iorg said in an EC report June 10. These challenges have led the EC to cut staff, deplete its reserve funds, and put its headquarters up for sale.
