Tennessee Southern Baptists shun church with a woman senior pastor
Ellen Di Giosia was told that she could not vote in a statewide gathering of congregations.
Ellen Di Giosia
Can a church with a female pastor be Southern Baptist? The Tennessee Baptist Convention has said no.
The group of 390 churches in Tennessee debated 15 minutes before voting overwhelmingly November 14 to shun First Baptist Church in Jefferson City, Tennessee, for calling Ellen Di Giosia as senior pastor.
Earlier this fall, a 15-member committee tasked with credentialing messengers for the annual statewide gathering of Southern Baptist congregations declared that a church with a woman serving as senior pastor does not fit the definition of a “cooperating church” as defined by convention bylaws.
