Saddleback Church’s Andy Wood Says He Just Wants to ‘Love and Support Pastors in the SBC’
In an interview with the Associated Press, Andy Wood, the new pastor of the 25,000-member, 14-campus Saddleback Church that recently recently raised eyebrows after ordaining several pastrixes and having a “Blacks Only worship service” where no white members were allowed in, so the “black fold” could have a “safe space” to “heal,” says he doesn’t want to get involved in denominational politics, despite his church being ground zero for new controversies within the SBC.
Having recently introduced his wife Stacie as the congregation’s newest female teaching pastor, Wood told AP:
“The church should be a place where both men and women can exercise those spiritual gifts. My wife has the spiritual gift of teaching and she is really good. People often tell me she’s better than me when it comes to preaching, and I’m really glad to hear that.”
According to the AP, Wood “expressed gratitude for the SBC’s partnership at Saddleback and Echo and hopes that it would continue.”
“I’m not looking to engage in denominational battles. I’d really like to be a unifier of people – to help, love and support pastors in the SBC.”
For years Andy Wood’s former church, Echo Church, was supported by the Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board (NAMB), all the while wife Stacie was an ordained “teaching pastor” and regularly leading services.
Saddleback’s longtime former pastor, Rick Warren, previously made a surprise appearance at the SBC 2022 convention back in the summer and spoke for several minutes uninterrupted, using his time to list all the accomplishments he has done as the largest Southern Baptist church in the world, bragging about all his accomplishments while telling attendees that they need to stop “bickering over secondary issues” like what gender the pastor is, and instead focus on the Great Commission.
Despite being a SBC church with money and influence, there is no way they will unite anyone so long as they continue to act in arrogant disobedience.
Instead, they should fire the pastrixes, get rid of any church leadership who went along with the idea, put on sackcloth and ash, mourn their actions for a decade, and then we’ll talk about how they can start unifying and loving SBC pastors .
About Author
The same person, the Apostle Paul, who gave the most explicit prohibitions against women in the position of pastor / teacher, is also an Apostle who warned that those who depart from the teachings given by the Apostles are the ones who cause divisions. The Apostle John also warned of the same thing. It is those who compromise with the world and attempt to integrate worldly philosophies who cause division within the body of Christ.
Open rebellion against God and His Word seems to be of little concern to Saddleback. Being the biblical source of division is merely blame-shifted onto others who are trying to uphold the Word of God. No fear of God, apparently.