06/15/2026
The following is the statement shared by our Senior Pastor in worship on Sunday, June 14:
This past week in Orlando, Florida, at the annual Southern Baptist Convention, that body voted to advance an amendment to its constitution banning churches with women serving as pastors (in any capacity) from taking part in the convention. While this isn’t really a shock to any of us who know the heart of those in the SBC, it has gained nationwide attention, as this year, the amendment passed with the necessary 2/3 majority. It will have to pass again next year with the same majority to be added to the SBC’s constitution.
Now, I know there are a number of you who here today, listening on the radio, or watching this on our YouTube channel that may be relatively new to First Baptist, maybe even new to Baptist life in general, so I feel it is necessary to clarify a few things. First, First Baptist Church has not been a part of the Southern Baptist Convention for decades, beginning in 1981 when Pastor Bill Bussey wrote in his January newsletter article to the church, “A group is seeking to take control of the Southern Baptist agencies and institutions (Bullard, 326).” That group of fundamentalists would go on to take control of the SBC, and a decade later, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF) would be formed from the remnant in Atlanta, Georgia. As it has been put more than once here, “First Baptist Church did not leave the Southern Baptist Convention, the SBC left First Baptist.” If we are to be identified by our denominational partner, FBC is a CBF church.
First Baptist Church has also been a place where women, their gifts, and their calling have been upheld. Over these past decades, FBC has not only ordained women to the diaconate, but we have ordained women to the gospel ministry, welcomed women to preach in this pulpit (like our very own, Rev. Judy Powell, one of the first Baptist women ordained and called to be a pastor in NC), established a scholarship for Baptist Women in Ministry in honor of the Rev. Kay Simpson, and have had ordained women on our pastoral staff, including our own Rev. Taylor Edwards (whose presence on our staff makes us the envy of other churches I can tell you!).
Long before my arrival here at First Baptist, during the tenures of my predecessors, Bill Bussey, Jim Gerard, and my friends, Doug Murray and the late Mike Cogdill, First Baptist Church has gained a local reputation for being “not that kind of Baptist.” FBC has been a congregation where fundamentalism of any stripe (conservative, liberal, or otherwise) is rejected, and in its place, we seek to live, serve, and love despite our differences, believing that God calls whom God calls, and God’s love in Christ is for all.
Should the SBC’s amendment pass next year, it will not affect us here as a congregation at First Baptist, but it may very well affect some of our mission partners, forcing them to sever decades-long relationships and ministry with First Baptist. I pray that does not happen, but should it come to pass, it will only serve as further evidence of fundamentalism’s destructive nature.
So, friends, I take this time simply to clarify our identity as First Baptist Church, an historic Baptist congregation, rooted not in denominational conventions or bodies, but in the “four fragile freedoms” described by Baptist historian Walter Shurden and listed in our constitution: Bible Freedom (the centrality of the Bible, interpreted through Jesus Christ), Soul Freedom (the freedom of individuals to enter into a relationship with God without the imposition of creeds, conventions, confessions, and the like), Church Freedom (the freedom of individual congregations to set and determine its own membership, governance, etc.), and Religious Freedom. Most of all though, our identity is rooted in the identity of Jesus Christ.
So, friends, I ask that you join me in praying for those who are caught in the crossfire of denominational politics, especially those women whom God may be calling to the work of ministry. I ask that you join me in praying for those whose only witness to Christ is that of headlines riddled with exclusivity, and I ask that you join me in praying for First Baptist Church as we continue to strive to be a place where lines are erased and not drawn, where folks are loved and not banned, where gifts and callings are affirmed, where Christ, not creeds, confessions, or statements is held high.
