Breaking: Rick Warren To Challenge Saddleback Removal at SBC Annual Meeting+ One Big Revelation
Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church is one of three churches that submitted a written appeal to the Southern Baptist Convention’s Credentials Committee, according to an report by Church Leaders, and they will challenge the ruling that they are not in “friendly cooperation” with the Convention.
Two months ago, the Executive Committee released a list of five churches they deemed not in friendly cooperation with the denomination due to their insistence at having women functioning in the office of pastor. One was Saddleback, who famously ordained several women pastors in late 2021, handed over his church to a husband and wife pastor and pastrix team, and then last weekend, announced a new campus pastor for the Lake Forest campus, a woman named Katie Edwards.
According to Church Leaders:
The three churches will be given a brief time to speak before the messengers at the SBC Annual Meeting on June 13 regarding their removal from the convention. According to the statement, this opportunity will take place during the afternoon session in which “one representative of the church will be recognized to speak and one representative of the Credentials Committee or Executive Committee shall be permitted to speak to the question.”
After the church representative speaks, a ballot vote will take place. “A ‘yes’ vote will affirm the decision of the Executive Committee and Credentials Committee. A ‘no’ vote will overturn the decision of the committees and allow the church to immediately be registered and to seat messengers in accordance with Convention rules,” the Credentials Committee explained.
Warren explained that they were not challenging the ruling of the EC for Saddleback’s benefit, as no one wants to stay where they aren’t welcome, but rather “we are challenging the EC ruling for five reasons that involve others.” They include:
We’re challenging the ruling on behalf of millions of SBC women whose God given spiritual gifts and leadership skills are being wasted instead of empowered for the Great Commission. We cannot finish the task Jesus gave us, with 50% of the church forced to sit on the bench. Great Commission Baptists believe that Jesus authorized every woman to go, to make disciples, to baptize, and to teach—just as he authorized every man.
2. We’re challenging the ruling on behalf of over 300 concerned pastors who have female pastors serving on their staff and have written to me. They are fearful and worried that their congregations will also be disfellowshipped when the new inquisition discovers them. (I’ve seen one list with over 1200 names of Baptist women in just Texas churches.)
3.We’re challenging the ruling on behalf of our IMB missionaries. Today our missionary force has almost 1,500 fewer missionaries than we had 23 years ago when the revised Baptist Faith & Message (BF&M) was approved in 2000. With a renewed emphasis on the restriction of women, we’ll lose more godly female church planters and couples serving as pastoral teams in the mission field.
4. We believe a decision this critical to the SBC’s identity and future should be decided by the Messengers, not a committee. The Messengers must decide if they want the Executive Committee to act like a Catholic Magisterium.
5. Our goal is to spark the thinking of messengers regarding the direction of the SBC, regardless of the outcome of the vote. If you really love something, you fight for it. But sometime it takes years for people to consider an event before change happens. Wilberforce lost every vote for 17 years before the slave trade was eventually abolished. It took 10 years after the lynching of Emmett Till in 1955 for the Civil Rights movement of the ‘60s to coalesce. Note my prediction: The next generation of Southern Baptists will remove the restriction on women one day, because truth eventually triumphs over tradition.
Lastly, Warren revealed that Saddleback has been told by “both the California Southern Baptist State Convention and our Orange County Southern Baptist Association, that the EC ruling will be ignored at their levels.”
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There shouldn’t be female messengers either. Manipulating women to vote against Scripture is as evil inside the church as Democrats who do it to influence female voting outside the Church.
Falling away, falling away, falling away ….
Very wicked man, Rick Warren. Among other reasons, to reference chattel slavery and racism, when he knows full well both are directly opposed to God’s word. It takes a very evil mind to make such an argument.
The sad truth is he’s probably right about the next generation. Just read yesterday that Baylor school of medicine is involved in transvestite mutilations, in direct defiance of God’s word.
Let the vote proceed. Let the chaff raise its ugly head. Let true born again, Bible-believing Christians know whether to stay or leave. So be it.
“The Godless Agenda Driven Life”
The Rebellion Driven Life
The Money Driven Life
The Power Driven Life
The Lust Driven Life
The Pride Driven Life
The Pleasure Driven Life
The Feelings Driven Life
The Politics Driven Life
The Status Driven Life
The Destroy God’s Word Driven Life
The Anything-But-What-God-Says Driven Life
The SIN Driven Life
The way things are going, there’s not going to be a next generation.
Life Purposefully Driven Straight to Hell
But he’s Americans fattest, um, favorite pastor!
The All-You-Can-Eat Buffet Driven Life
We will find out if churches are willing to stand for what God’s Word clearly articulates. New Orleans is the crossroads where everyone will, without a doubt, know which road the SBC has taken. I’m not even cautiously optimistic. Liberals are at the head of almost all SBC institutions. God be glorified as the wheat and chaff are separated.