Female pastor reacts to Southern Baptist Convention expulsion of two churches for female pastors

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) — The Southern Baptist Convention has voted to expel two churches, because they have women pastors.
That includes a church in Kentucky.

The convention says having women as pastors goes against the denomination’s interpretation of the bible.

During the convention, they also voted to prohibit their churches from having women hold any pastoral title.

“It is disheartening and discouraging. It was my grandmother who first called me into ministry. It has been the women in my life who have inspired me to grow and to heal and to learn more about God and my faith,” says Christy Jo Harbor, who is the lead pastor at Woodland Christian Church in Lexington. She says what makes her church stand out is the willingness to change as times change.

“So even in our early days of Woodland, we have been open to progressing as history evolves and as our understanding of scripture and of the world evolves, so has the leadership of the church,” she adds.

She calls Wednesday’s decision with the Southern Baptist Convention, a step backwards.

“We are living in a time where society wants to separate us to keep us weaker when we are apart. And I believe the church’s work and our faith convicts us to figure out how to bring everyone together, to the table,” she adds.

Harbor also sends a message to all female pastors, encouraging them to continue with the work they’ve been doing to help spread faith, “I have to say to those women that they are strong and they are courageous and they are powerful. And this appeal only illuminates what we already know to be true. And so as women, we know the hard and holy work that has always been in front of us.
And so I just think that it’s an encouraging time that this conversation is now taking a much bigger platform because the time is right and our work does not change. Our ministry does not change regardless of who says it’s okay or welcomed or not.”

Harbor also says the actions against female pastors, leaves the door open for some soul searching.

“Are we acting out of fear or love? And I believe some of the actions and the decisions that are being made are out of fear, not out of love. And so I think the soul searching question is, how are we going to move forward from here? Is it through fear or is it through love? And what if love can liberate all of us, not just white men with an agenda, but also women and children and people of color,” she also added.

All baptist churches are independent, so the convention can’t tell them what to do, but it can decide which churches are “not in friendly cooperation,” the official verbiage for an expulsion.
The SBC’s statement of faith says the office of pastor is reserved for qualified men, but this is believed to be the first time the convention has expelled any churches over it.