ANAHEIM (CA)
AL.com [Birmingham, AL]
June 14, 2022
By Jeremy Gray
The Southern Baptist Convention, holding its 2022 annual meeting in Anaheim, California, today explored the possibility of breaking ties with California’s Saddleback Church, according to news reports.
The denomination considered establishing a committee to study whether the SBC should break with Saddleback Church, which ordained three women as pastors, The Tennessean reported. “The SBC statement of beliefs says the “office of pastor” is reserved for men,” the report states.
Shad Tibbs, pastor of Fellowship Baptist Church in Trout, Louisiana, made the request, Religion News Service reported.
“They have ordained three ladies as pastors, and all other churches that would choose to follow this path. At the very least, I am asking that the validity of this matter be looked into,” Tibbs said, according to that report.
“Ultimately, the motion was withdrawn by the credentials committee that had recommended it, with Linda Cooper, chair of the committee, saying they had heard the messengers,” The Tennessean reported.
“Instead, the committee recommended creating a study group to look at the issue,” Religion News Service reported.
Warren later addressed the convention, according to reporters covering the event.
“Are we to keep bickering over secondary issues?” Warren said. “Or are we going to keep the main thing the main thing?”
The Orange County, California church is one of the largest in the denomination with a weekly audience of 40,000 worldwide.
Pastor Rick Warren is retiring and in September Pastor Andy Wood and his wife, Stacie, of Echo.Church in San Jose will take over, the Orange County Register has reported.
Founded by Warren in 1980, the church hosted Barack Obama and John McCain when they ran for president in 2008, and in 2009 Warren gave the invocation at Obama’s inauguration.