The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) has ousted Saddleback Church, its second-largest congregation, for having a woman pastor.
The SBC Executive Committee on Tuesday voted to remove the Lake Forest, California megachurch after deeming it to be “not in friendly cooperation with the Southern Baptist Convention,” Baptist Press reported. The meeting was held in Nashville, Tennessee.
Saddleback’s founding pastor Rick Warren retired last year after more than 40 years at the helm. He was succeeded by pastor Andy Wood and his wife, Stacie Wood, whose title is teaching pastor.
“As stated in the Baptist Faith and Message Article VI, the SBC holds to the belief that the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by scripture,” the Executive Committee wrote in a statement….