Southern Baptists vote to oppose IVF and reject tighter ban on women pastors

INDIANAPOLIS — The Southern Baptist Convention endorsed a statement opposing in vitro fertilization. It also rejected an amendment that would have likely booted out hundreds of churches with associate women pastors, including in roles that only serve women and children. The denomination will maintain its official doctrinal statement that the office of pastor is only for men, but will not reinforce its constitution with that language — for now.

The resolution on IVF states that “though all children are to be fully respected and protected, not all technological means of assisting human reproduction are equally God-honoring or morally justified.” It cites the number of embryos generated in the IVF process — resulting in freezing, stockpiling and sometimes destroying the excess — and asks families to use other reproductive technologies, or to consider adopting children or unwanted frozen embryos.

But the resolution is not binding. While the denomination has come out forcefully against abortion and criticized the use of embryos in research, in the past, it has had little to say about IVF, a procedure that has been widely accepted by the American public.

“We grieve alongside couples who have been diagnosed with infertility or are currently struggling to conceive, affirm their godly desire for children, and encourage them to consider the ethical implications of assisted reproductive technologies as they look to God for hope, grace, and wisdom amid suffering,” the statement said.

The IVF resolution came after a highly anticipated vote on how the denomination planned to address the ordination of women. With the rejection of the proposed amendment, much remains the same: The denomination can’t tell independent churches whom to appoint as a pastor, but they have the authority to say which churches are allowed in the convention. It’s a power the convention exercised last year when members voted to oust five churches, including Saddleback, a California megachurch, for ordaining three women pastors.

With nearly 13 million members across the country, the Southern Baptist church is the nation’s largest Protestant denomination and a powerful conservative political force. More than 11,000 Southern Baptist pastors and members descended on Indianapolis for the annual meeting, which culminated in the highly-anticipated vote on whether the denomination would amend its constitution to formally ban churches with any women pastors. It is estimated that hundreds of Southern Baptist churches currently have women in pastoral positions — though many are in associate roles or only serve women and children.

On Tuesday afternoon, ahead of Wednesday’s vote, several members took to a street corner outside the meeting to advocate either for or against the amendment. Three women stood quietly on the sidewalk wearing sunglasses and holding signs that read, “Break Barriers Not Spirits” and “Preaching Power Knows No Gender.” Meanwhile, a man paced back and forth a few steps away speaking into a microphone — his voice projecting clearly down the block — about why men and women are inherently different and why the Bible dictates that women should never be pastors.

One of the women was Meredith Stone, the executive director of Baptist Women in Ministry, a Texas-based organization that supports women’s leadership in the denomination. Stone said they’d been standing on the corner all morning, hoping to grab the attention of convention attendees in between sessions or as they were heading to and from lunch. Some people gave them a hidden thumbs up as they walked by, while others sneered.

“We’re here to try and share a positive message as millions of women are hearing from the Southern Baptist Convention that they do not have equal value to God or in the church,” Stone said. “We want to make sure the other message is also heard, that women do have equal value and that there is a place for them in God’s work.”

Stone said the same amendment passed overwhelmingly last year, but amendments require a second vote the following year before being enshrined in the denomination’s constitution. After the first vote, Stone said she noticed a bigger push against the amendment.

“This year there’s been some campaigning, but not on ideological reasons,” Stone said. “People agree with the idea [of women being barred from becoming lead pastors] but for practical reasons, they see the potential loss of money as churches stop giving money to the convention and the challenging logistics of trying to investigate which churches to kick out.”

David Hewitt, a pastor at Aletheia Church based in Indianapolis, stood with his co-pastor on the same sidewalk, a few yards away from the women. For him, the debate was entirely ideological. He was there to remind passersby that the office of pastor, elder, bishop or overseer should only be held by men, pointing to several passages in the Bible.

Hewitt said he wanted the amendment to pass because he saw it as a buttress against further cultural erosion, including the further widespread acceptance of LGBTQ+ rights.

“If we’re really going to love people, we need to tell them the truth,” Hewitt said, citing the Bible as the source of truth that dictates men and women’s role in the church and society. “Because if you tell someone something that’s not true, they might feel better for a while but it’ll come around to bite them in the end — or worse.”