Texas Southern Baptists Will Vote Next Week on Limiting the Pastor's Office and Title to Men

Who may hold the office of pastor is not a new question for Baptists. Next week, Texas Southern Baptists will answer it in writing.

Messengers to the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention will gather Oct. 26-27 at First Baptist Church Forney for the convention’s annual meeting, according to the Southern Baptist TEXAN, the convention’s news outlet. The theme is "Built on the Rock," drawn from Matthew 7:24.

Among the business before them are amendments to the convention’s constitution and bylaws, which the SBTC Executive Board unanimously approved on April 28 and recommended to messengers, the TEXAN reported.

What the amendment says

The key change is to the convention’s affiliation qualifications. The proposed language for Article IV, Section 1, Item (d) of the constitution "affirms the office, function, ordination and title of pastor/elder/overseer to be limited to men as qualified by Scripture."

It goes further than the office itself. "Title shall include any equivalents of the words pastor/elder/overseer, and preaching to the assembled congregation shall be an exclusive function of pastor/elder/overseer or biblically qualified men," the proposed language says.

In plain terms, a church that wants to affiliate with the SBTC would need to keep the pastor’s office and title, by any name, for qualified men, and reserve preaching to the gathered congregation for pastors or other biblically qualified men.

Other changes

Representation. Every affiliated church would get at least two messengers at convention meetings. Churches that give through the Cooperative Program or to SBTC ministries during the current year could receive up to eight more, for a maximum of 10.

Leaving the convention. The amendments spell out three ways a church’s affiliation can end, including a route for messengers to act, available only after the Executive Board’s process. Written notice is required for a motion to end a church’s affiliation, and the "Challenged Church" gets a chance to respond. If adopted, the matter goes on the agenda for the following annual meeting.

The Executive Board also authorized an operating guideline of affirmations and denials to guide the Credentials Committee on what the new affiliation language means.

Two votes, two years

This will not be settled in one week. Constitutional amendments require a two-thirds vote of messengers at two consecutive annual meetings. Bylaws changes need two-thirds at a single meeting, but the board will recommend that any approved bylaws changes be held until the constitutional changes win final approval at the second meeting, the TEXAN reported. That puts the final vote in 2027 at the earliest.

Why the convention says it matters

The review committee was formed in August 2025 and charged with making sure the convention’s polity and affiliation requirements are clearly stated, "particularly regarding the office and title of pastor," the TEXAN reported.

"In today’s cultural climate, clarity is essential, and these changes provide our convention with a meaningful opportunity to continue moving forward in doctrinal unity, strengthening our shared missional focus," SBTC Executive Director Nathan Lorick said.

Committee Chair Denny Autrey said the committee worked to reinforce "our commitment to the inerrancy of Scripture" while "providing language to produce a spirit of unity" among the churches.

Executive Board Chairman Wes Hinote said the revisions "provide much-needed clarity and consistency as we move forward together in cooperation and doctrinal unity."

The rest of the meeting

Caleb Turner, senior pastor of Mesquite Friendship Baptist Church, will deliver the president’s message. Judd Frazier, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Kemp, has said he will nominate Turner for a second term as convention president. Turner was the youngest and first African American to chair the SBTC Executive Board, according to the TEXAN.

JR Vassar of Church at the Cross in Grapevine and Moisés Gómez of Ekklesia Comunidad Bíblica in Irving will bring biblical challenges. Nathan Lorick will give the executive director’s report, and messengers will elect officers and take up resolutions. A Crossover evangelism day is set for Saturday, Oct. 24, at First Baptist Forney and the surrounding area, and a Spanish-language session begins Sunday evening, Oct. 25. Each SBTC church may send up to 10 messengers.

A word on the question

Some will call this narrow. It is better described as an old conviction written down plainly. Scripture sets out qualifications for the overseer, and many faithful churches have long read those passages to mean the pastoral office belongs to qualified men. That conviction does not lessen the gifts of women, who serve, teach, give and lead in countless ways in Baptist life.

Cooperating churches have every right to say what they believe and to decide with whom they will partner. Messengers should do it the Baptist way: with open Bibles, honest debate and charity toward brothers and sisters who see it differently. If you are looking for a congregation that teaches the Bible plainly, here is a simple guide to finding a church home.