NAMB Church Plant Takes the Money and Runs, Leaving SBC

1Name Church, the North American Mission Board Church plant that blew up in Southern Baptist circles after it was revealed they had a woman as lead pastor has left the SBC, sources have confirmed.

We wrote about this recently, after Jamie Farver, a woman, was aggressively and prominently marketed all throughout the church website and social media as a “pastor” and “lead pastor” even though that is strictly prohibited by the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 (BF&M2K), the official position document of the SBC.

Tom Ascol updated the world after talking to Kevin Ezell, NAMB president, about the status of the church plant, later adding, “If the church isn’t in agreement with SBC confessional commitments then it was an honorable decision to leave.”

Of course, we don’t find anything honorable about taking cooperative program dollars and then running off with the money. In fact, the “honorable thing” would be to pay NAMB back.

Was it honorable for the NAMB not to do their due diligence by ensuring that the church would be fully in line with the BF&M2K before they gave them who knows how much financial and infrastructure support?
Did NAMB know they weren’t in full co-operation with the BF&M2K before they funded them or after?

When did they leave the SBC? Was it immediately after they were planted, or just recently as they received the negative attention?

Furthermore, who is the sending church? These things don’t happen ex nihilo. Surely the mothership would have known 1Name Church had no intention of her not preaching, teaching, and leading the church. Was this disclosed?

John Kaleo on Twitter is likewise asking the right questions.