Saddleback Church scandal: California megachurch expelled by Southern Baptist convention over female pastor

LAKE FORES, California. The Southern Baptist Convention on Tuesday ousted its second largest congregation – Saddleback Church, a prominent California megachurch founded by pastor and best-selling author Rick Warren – for having a female pastor.

The convention’s Executive Committee vote was the culmination of growing tensions between the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, which officially opposes women as pastors, and a congregation whose history has been one of the biggest church growth success stories of modern times.

The committee cited Saddleback as having a “female pastor serving in the position of pastor”, a nod to Stacey Wood, the wife of Saddleback’s current lead pastor, Andy Wood.

But controversy began in 2021 when Warren ordained three women as shepherds, sparking discussions within the denomination about the possible expulsion of the megachurch.

Warren retired last year after more than 42 years at Saddleback. In June 2022, he gave an emotional speech at the annual Southern Baptist convention in Anaheim, supporting his ordination of women. He told the delegates who were discussing the issue: “We must decide whether we will treat each other as allies or adversaries.”

But the Executive Committee voted on Tuesday without public comment after the executive session.

He voted to approve the recommendation of the denominational Mandates Committee that Saddleback be considered “unfriendly to the Convention,” terminology used to oust the church. While the Southern Baptists’ declaration of faith officially opposes women as pastors, each congregation is self-governing, so the main enforcement mechanism is to force it out of the membership.

The Executive Committee’s proposal stated that Saddleback “professed a faith and practice that did not quite align with the accepted statement of faith adopted by the Convention, as evidenced by a church that has a female pastor-teacher serving as pastor.”

In a statement late Tuesday night, the church did not indicate whether it plans to exercise its right to appeal the decision at the next annual Southern Baptist meeting scheduled for June in New Orleans.

“We love and have always treasured our relationship with the SBC and its faithful churches,” Saddleback Elders said in a statement. “We will engage and respond through the appropriate channels at the right time in the hope of serving other like-minded Bible-believing SBC churches. Meanwhile, we remain focused on following God’s direction to love and serve our church family and the communities around our campuses. “

Mike Keebone, Executive Committee member and Oklahoma pastor, said an appeal “seems likely.”

“It was the heart of the room to let the SBC envoys (delegates) decide,” Keebone tweeted on Tuesday.

With its main campus in Lake Forest, south of Los Angeles, Saddleback Church has grown from four to 14 locations in Southern California, with an average weekly attendance of 30,000. There are four international campuses – in Hong Kong, Germany, the Philippines and Argentina.

Wood told The Associated Press last year that the Bible “teaches that men and women have been given spiritual gifts from God.” His wife was pastor-teacher at Saddleback.

“The church should be a place where both men and women can exercise these spiritual gifts,” Wood said. “My wife has the spiritual gift of a teacher and she is really good. People often tell me that she is a better preacher than I am, and I am very glad to hear it.”

The Executive Committee also voted to oust five other congregations – four over the issue of women pastors and one over the issue of sexual harassment.

When Southern Baptists last updated their official statement of faith—The Baptist Faith and Message—in 2000, they added the following clause: “Although both men and women are gifted to serve in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as defined by Scripture.” .

The five churches expelled for having women as pastors “have been valued, have partnered with churches over the years, and the decision has not been made lightly,” committee chairman Jared Wellman said. “However, we remain committed to upholding the SBC’s theological convictions and maintaining unity among its cooperating churches.”

Warren, with millions of social media followers, has written several books, including the widely acclaimed Life of Purpose. In 2005, Warren was named one of the “100 Most Influential People in the World” by Time magazine, and he delivered the call at President Barack Obama’s 2009 inauguration.

The Church grew out of the startup Rick Warren and his wife, Kay Warren. With his charisma and light, informal preaching style, Warren has drawn thousands to the megachurch. Over the past decade, Warren has also launched an ambitious plan to expand the church’s reach in Southern California as well as around the world, a vision his successor has promised to realize.

Warren said in a tweet that he and Kay are “responding to #SBC in OUR time.” and through direct channels” such as social media and newsletters.

Warren is still listed as the founding pastor on the Saddleback website.

In recent years, the SBC has sanctioned the expulsion of churches that do not live up to its statement of faith. This includes churches with female pastors, LGBTQ-friendly policies, support for racism, or failure to adequately respond to child sexual abuse, such as using offenders as pastors.

In some cases, the committee has ousted churches for allegedly not even cooperating in response to such allegations, as reflected in some of the proposals approved on Tuesday.

He felt that Freedom Church in Vero Beach, Florida is not in friendly partnership “due to a lack of intent to cooperate in resolving issues related to sexual assault allegations.” In recent years, the denomination has been agitated by allegations of sexual harassment remaining in the ministry, prompting the convention to vote for a stricter policy. The task force looking into the matter this week announced the hiring of a firm to oversee a new database of credible ministers.

Freedom Church pastor Richard Demsik told the AP that the SBC sent conflicting messages to the church. In a letter to national, state, and local Southern Baptist organizations, church leaders disputed any allegations of abuse, requested more information, and said they planned to appeal any dismissal.

The Executive Committee expelled the New Faith Mission Ministry in Griffin, Georgia, and St. Timothy Christian Baptist Church in Baltimore, citing their “lack of intent to cooperate in resolving the issue” arising from the fact that women are senior pastors in the churches.

And he ousted Fern Creek Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky and Calvary Baptist Church in Jackson, Mississippi for having female pastors, indicating that their “faith and practice” is at odds with convention.

The SBC has 13.7 million members, but has seen a net decline in membership and baptisms over more than a decade, a key indicator of spiritual vitality.

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The Associated Press’s religious coverage gets its boost from AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, funded by Lilly Endowment Inc. AP is solely responsible for this content.

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