In his first interview since a much-read story appeared in a Texas newspaper, Atlanta pastor Charles Stanley told Baptist Press (BP) Oct. 24 he is “absolutely” supportive of the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message (BF&M) and its stances on the role of women, although he believes one amendment should have been clarified and another not included at all. The interview came nearly a week after a story in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram stated that Stanley “disagrees” with the BF&M and its stances on two issues: the role of pastor being reserved by Scripture for men and the submission of wives submitting to the leadership of their husbands.
Stanley told BP that, as stated in the BF&M, he believes Scripture reserves the role of pastor for men.
“First of all, I have not disagreed with the denomination’s faith statement barring women pastors,” Stanley told BP, and added that he cannot think of a “single theological issue” with which he and other SBC presidents have disagreed. Stanley said he believes the language about female pastors would have been best left out of the BF&M. He said he believes the change has created controversy with people misinterpreting what Southern Baptists mean.
“That’s my personal conviction, that’s my personal opinion, and everybody has a right to their own opinion,” Stanley said.
Stanley was saved under the preaching of a female evangelist. He makes a distinction between “pastor” and “preacher,” saying that the latter can be a woman. People sometimes confuse the two terms and thus misunderstand him, he said. Three years ago a story in The Charlotte Observer quoted Stanley as saying he disagreed with the BF&M’s amendment on female pastors, but in a follow-up interview with BP Stanley noted the pastor-preacher difference.
“There are a number of women who are preachers who are preaching the gospel today, teaching the gospel today, and they are being very successful at it and they are meeting people’s needs,” Stanley said. “You can’t tell a woman who is called by God to teach that she cannot teach the Word of God. … So I think the distinction is that there’s a difference between the authority of a pastor and a Bible teacher.”
Stanley said he has no problem with the BF&M’s family amendment stating husbands and wives “are of equal worth before God” and wives are to “submit” themselves “graciously to the servant leadership” of their husbands. But he believes the amendment should have included additional language from Ephesians where Paul tells Christians to submit “to one another.”
“I believe that is absolutely a biblical principle,” Stanley said regarding wives submitting to husbands. “I’ve never questioned that. I’ve simply said that to balance that out as far as people who are not Baptists — who hear us talking about that — we need to also emphasize the fact that Paul said we should be honoring and submissive to one another. You have to balance that out or the people who are not Christians and the people who are not Baptists don’t understand our viewpoint.” (BP)
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