Advocacy Update
November 14, 2023
Since the SBC’s amendment to disfellowship churches that affirm, appoint, or employ women in pastoral roles of any kind passed a first reading five months ago, Baptist Women in Ministry has been raising the level of our advocacy.
Our desire is that Baptist denominational organizations which “allow” the ministry and ordination of women would boldly affirm women in all ministerial and pastoral roles and take action on that affirmation. After the pain that has been caused by the SBC, congregations and women in ministry deserve to know that there are Baptist spaces where they are valued.
We were elated with the General Baptist State Convention of North Carolina’s resolution last month and are grateful for Associate Director Lynn Brinkley’s efforts in advocating for it.
In July, our advocacy was focused on the Baptist General Convention of Texas (Texas Baptists) as I attempted to present a motion which asked for both affirmation of women in ministry as well as action taken on that affirmation.
Today we are celebrating action taken by the Baptist General Association of Virginia (BGAV).
Rev. Kristin Whitesides, pastor of First Baptist Church of Winchester, Virginia and one of the pastors targeted earlier this year by efforts in the SBC, presented a motion which passed.
The motion read as follows:
I move that the Executive Board of the Baptist General Association of Virginia appoint a 7-member task force to explore programs, resources, policies, initiatives, and relationships which further support and advocate for women in pastoral, ministerial, and leadership roles among Virginia Baptists, and that the task force present a report of findings and recommendations to the messengers of the 2024 Baptist General Association of Virginia Annual Meeting.
As Rev. Whitesides read the motion, around 30-40 people rose to come and stand with her as a symbol of solidarity with women in ministry across Virginia. The group included women and men who met several times over the past few months to discuss how to move the BGAV forward in its active affirmation of women in ministry, as well as other women and men who came alongside this group because they believe action must accompany the BGAV’s affirmation of women in ministry.
The passing of this motion and the work which will emerge from it is the result of much effort that has happened over the past several months.
In days following the SBC Annual Meeting, the Executive Board and Executive Director of the BGAV released a statement. In light of the SBC’s move to disfellowship churches which choose to call women in roles with the title of pastor, the BGAV leadership affirmed the autonomy of the local church to choose whether or not it would ordain and call women into pastoral roles.
Significantly, the second and third sentences of the third paragraph of the statement also read, “Both women and men are seen as vessels through which the Spirit works, and the Spirit equips all believers for myriad ministries including the role of pastor within the church. This basic understanding affirms the inherent worth and potential of all followers of Christ.”
As a statement passed by the Executive Board of the BGAV, this affirmation that the Spirit can work through and equip women for the role of pastor has the force of policy for the BGAV.
However, in listening to women who are ministers within the BGAV, we realized that the affirmation described in this statement does not always match the experiences of women in ministry.
Group surrounds Rev. Dr. Kristin Whitesides as she prepares to read the motion.
While some women are fully equipped and empowered in the BGAV, other women have experienced being dismissed, treated as lesser, not listened to, or even outright rejected. They felt tolerated rather than celebrated. In the words of Rev. Whitesides, “All too often we are viewed as an exception, rather than exceptional.”
Like all BWIM’s advocacy, our work is informed by the experiences of women themselves. So it was clear further work was needed within the BGAV to put Virginia Baptists’ affirmation into action.
For the past two months, I met with a group of women and men who held the same desire for all spaces within the BGAV to become more hospitable, welcoming and intentionally uplifting of women in ministry.
We discussed many avenues our group could take in advocacy for women in ministry within the BGAV. After much conversation and weighing of the potential outcomes, we settled on a motion asking the Executive Board to form a task force which would explore and make recommendations for how the BGAV could further support and advocate for women in ministry among Virginia Baptists.
Once the group had decided on the action it felt had the potential of being received well AND of actually moving the needle for Virginia Baptist women, I reached out to the leadership of the BGAV to notify them of the group’s intention.
This is where the story of the BGAV aligns with how the resolution unfolded with General Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, and diverges significantly with how the motion at the Baptist General Convention of Texas Annual Meeting played out.
Rev. Brooke Holloway Blake, Associate Pastor of Memorial Baptist Church in Arlington, VA and Chair of the BGAV Executive Board preaches on the first day of the BGAV Annual Meeting.
The leadership of the BGAV was open to conversation and finding a way forward that honored the group’s intention and desires. I served as a mediator between the group of people who had been in conversation and a representative of the BGAV leadership. She (yes, she!) and I spent quite a few hours on the phone and in conversation. She and the other BGAV leaders wanted to know the experiences of women in ministry in Virginia and wanted to consider what they could do to make it better.
Listening to women matters. And the BGAV leadership was open and willing to listen.
The success of the motion at the BGAV Annual Meeting today can be credited to the brave women who are willing to share their stories even when it is risky, and to the openness of the BGAV leadership. We are hopeful that the task force appointed by the BGAV Executive Board will bring recommendations of new programs, resources, policies, initiatives, and/or relationships which will make a difference for women in ministry in Virginia.
BWIM is honored that our advocacy efforts could facilitate the possibility of the BGAV becoming a denominational organization where its support of women in ministry is not silent, implicit, or implied, but where its affirmation is unequivocally clear and implemented in practice. These are the steps needed to move toward a Baptist world where women in ministry thrive, not just survive.