Georgia Baptists oust second church with woman pastor

ALBANY, Ga. (ABP) – For the second year in a row, the Georgia Baptist
Convention has withdrawn fellowship from one of its most historic member
churches for calling a woman as pastor.

Meeting Nov. 15-16 at Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Ga., more than
1,000 GBC messengers endorsed a March vote by the convention’s executive
committee declaring that Druid Hills Baptist Church in Atlanta is not a “cooperating church” under the denomination’s articles of faith.

The convention overwhelmingly accepted a recommendation by its executive
committee stating “that Druid Hills Baptist Church in Atlanta is not a
cooperating church as defined in Article 2, Section 1 of the
constitution, because a woman is serving as co-pastor and that Druid
Hills Baptist Church of Atlanta be excluded from the convention and all
rights and privileges thereof.”

That article defines cooperation in terms of fidelity to the 2000 version
of the Southern Baptist Convention's Baptist Faith and Message
statement, which says in part, “While men and women are gifted for
service within the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as
qualified by Scripture.”