{"id":604,"date":"2023-08-09T00:24:40","date_gmt":"2023-08-09T00:24:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/2023\/08\/09\/sbc-female-pastor-ban-prompts-tennessee-churchs-decision-to-depart\/"},"modified":"2023-08-09T00:24:40","modified_gmt":"2023-08-09T00:24:40","slug":"sbc-female-pastor-ban-prompts-tennessee-churchs-decision-to-depart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/2023\/08\/09\/sbc-female-pastor-ban-prompts-tennessee-churchs-decision-to-depart\/","title":{"rendered":"SBC Female Pastor Ban Prompts Tennessee Church’s Decision to Depart"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\"\"\/<\/a>\"\"\/<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n
<\/source><\/picture>
Monte Vista Baptist Church of Maryville, Tennessee. <\/span> | Courtesy Monte Vista Baptist Church<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A congregation in Tennessee has voted to leave the Southern Baptist Convention due to disagreements over theological issues, specifically the SBC\u2019s reaffirmation of its ban on women serving as pastors.<\/p>\n

Monte Vista Baptist Church of Maryville, which has a regular weekly in-person attendance of about 150 churchgoers, voted last week to end its affiliation with the SBC and the Tennessee Baptist Convention.<\/p>\n

The congregation had been affiliated with the SBC for nearly 70 years, while also holding an official partnership with the more progressive Cooperative Baptist Fellowship<\/a> (CBF<\/a>) since the 1990s.<\/p>\n

Monte Vista Senior Pastor Jerry Mantooth told The Christian Post in an interview Tuesday that the decision to leave involved a unanimous voice vote from more than 120 members.<\/p>\n

Mantooth explained that \u201cover the years, we have felt like that the SBC has gotten more narrow in its interpretation of Scripture,\u201d citing a vote<\/a> at the SBC’s Annual Meeting earlier this year to amend the SBC constitution to bar women from serving as a “pastor of any kind” in churches.<\/p>\n

The proposed amendment passed in June with about 80% of the messenger vote but must be passed at next year\u2019s SBC Annual Meeting to be permanently added to the Convention\u2019s bylaws.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a main value for us: equality in ministry,\u201d said Mantooth. \u201cWe have ordained women for a number of years, and that is just a part of our DNA. And we felt like they were making a move to push us out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, we just made the decision. Let\u2019s just go ahead and make the decision ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mantooth told CP that they had \u201cquestion-and-answer times with the church prior to the decision so that we could discuss it,\u201d noting that \u201cwe have written letters explaining this to the Southern Baptist Convention and the Tennessee Baptist Convention.\u201d<\/p>\n

Monte Vista intends to continue its affiliation with the CBF<\/a>, with Mantooth explaining that \u201cwe felt like they were more in-line with the historic Baptist principles that have guided us over the years.\u201d<\/p>\n

CP reached out to the Tennessee Baptist Convention, with a spokesperson saying they had not yet received any official notice from the congregation about their disaffiliation vote.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, the TBC spokesperson explained that because Monte Vista is \u201can autonomous local church,\u201d it is \u201cfree to associate with whomever it wishes\u201d and to \u201cpull away from the [TBC and] SBC.\u201d<\/p>\n

In June, messengers at the SBC’s Annual Meeting upheld the removal of the California-based Saddleback Church due to the megachurch\u2019s allowing a woman to serve in the office of teaching pastor.<\/p>\n

According to the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message<\/a>, which the SBC subscribes to, while both men and women are called to spread the Gospel, the office of pastor \u201cis limited to men as qualified by Scripture.\u201d<\/p>\n

Follow Michael Gryboski on Twitter <\/a> or Facebook<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Free<\/span> Religious Freedom Updates<\/h2>\n

Join thousands of others to get the FREEDOM POST<\/strong> newsletter for free, sent twice a week from The Christian Post.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n