In the last couple of weeks, many of you have been asking us, “If the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) has made their position on women in ministry clear, why don’t women just leave?”
Well, first of all, some do. We celebrate those women and offer them our blessing if that is what they choose and are able to do.
But it’s not that simple for most women.
The SBC is their faith family. It’s where they found their identity in Christ. It’s where they learned God loves them and where they were encouraged to listen for God’s call.
And following God’s call is more than just a job. A calling is an expression of our values, our purpose, and our identity—which for these women is often closely connected to their SBC churches.
Leaving the place where you found your identity and purpose is similar, then, to telling people to just walk away from their homes and families.
Many people who have experienced that kind of leaving will tell you that even when you are rejected by your family, it is never easy to walk away from those who made you into who you are today.
Also, some women can’t leave. Leaving their SBC churches is not an option. They live in relationships or in homes where they don’t have the freedom to decide where they will go to church. They are struggling in silence.
And for women in ministry, there is not an abundance of Baptist churches, SBC or not, where women can find opportunities to live out their callings to ministry. If a woman leaves her place of ministry in a SBC church, especially if there has been any conflict surrounding her ministry in that church as the convention is trying to make happen, then she might end up never being able to live out her calling again.
So if women want to follow their calling in a SBC church, why should they be the ones who have to leave? Some women stay in the SBC rather than leave because they want to make sure other women can hear the good news that God values women equally and God does call women to pastor, preach, and minister.
Yes, there are other denominations, Baptist and otherwise, where women in ministry are welcome. We celebrate the progress that has been made in those spaces, and we will continue to advocate so that affirming Baptist environments are places where women in ministry are celebrated and not just permitted.
But we refuse to let any Baptist group disparage women’s callings and value without speaking against it. Injustice must be named, even if it is being perpetrated by the same groups or people over and over again. They will not wear us down or keep us from sharing the good news that freedom in Christ is for women as well as for men.
BWIM’s mission is to support and advocate for all Baptist women in ministry. And as long as there are women in the SBC, there will be women called to ministry in the SBC. So we will continue to support the women who choose to stay or who have to stay, and we will continue to work so that people in the SBC, whether they agree or not, hear the message that God calls women to pastor, preach, and minister.