North Carolina pastor Clint Pressley, who was elected Wednesday in a run-off, supported the so-called Law Amendment that would have written a prohibition against female pastors in the denomination’s constitution.
That vote passed by a large majority, 61%, but failed to hit the two-thirds vote needed to pass to change the constitution.
In an interview with AFN after the vote, Pressley says the vote was meant to provide “clarity” to the denomination’s stance on female pastors.
“But it's not necessary for our convention of churches to maintain a real sense of complementarity,” he says. “We're still just as complementarian as we were before that vote ever came into play.”
A “complementarian” view in theology means both men and women are equal in the eyes of God but equipped with different roles in church and at home.
AFN previously reported the floor vote was 61%-38% to approve the Law Amendment. Among the messengers, the vote was 5,099 in favor and 3,185 opposed.
An argument from those opposed to the Law Amendment was that it was redundant to do so, since a prohibition against female pastors is currently in the Baptist Faith and Message.
It was also pointed out Southern Baptist messengers voted this week to disfellowship an Alexandria, Virginia church for employing women in senior pastor positions. That vote was a lopsided 91%-7% vote.
Pressley says there were good people on both sides of the issue.
“I have brothers that are just as theologically robust, as I would like to be myself, that were against it,” he says. “And we have maintained a real sense of God's good design, not only in marriage but in how He's given us to live as men and women.”
Pressley, pastor of Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Charlotte, was elected SBC president in a five-man race. He was elected Wednesday morning with 56% of the vote over Dan Spencer, pastor of First Baptist Church in Sevierville, Tenn.
