[1]NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–Quotes to accompany stories on women in ministry in the Southern Baptist Convention:
— Anthony L. Jordan, executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma and chairman of the committee that drafted 1998 Family Amendment to the SBC’s Baptist Faith and Message doctrinal statement:
“I have never doubted that biblical family life is superior to any other. While Southern Baptists have been misquoted and painted into a corner as having degraded women, nothing could be further from the truth. The family article places the pressure directly on the man. He is to serve, cherish and love his wife.”
— Rhonda Kelley, coordinator of women’s ministry programs at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and co-editor of The New King James Woman’s Study Bible:
“When I look at the Bible I don’t feel oppressed, I feel encouraged and overwhelmed with opportunities.”
— William Merrell, vice president for convention relations with the SBC Executive Committee:
[2]“Southern Baptists are not anti-woman; indeed, they affirm the leadership of women in family, business, politics and a wide array of human endeavors. Furthermore, women are an integral and invaluable part of the body of Christ, serving in a broad variety of important roles both as volunteers and vocational ministers. We don’t know how to say this more strongly: Women and men are of equal value! However, because Scripture speaks specifically to the role of pastor, churches are under a moral imperative to be guided by that teaching, rather than the shifting opinions of human cultures.”
— Dorothy Patterson, professor of women’s studies at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and general editor of The Woman’s Study Bible:
“We are not bound to what has been done over the generations, but we do have to be very cautious about adding to Scripture according to our personal whims or our cultural setting. I think if we will work within the authorities God has placed in our lives and if we will keep ourselves always under the umbrella of his Word, we cannot go wrong.”
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Quotes courtesy of the Southern Baptist Texan newsjournal.