DULUTH, Ga. — For the second straight year, the Georgia Baptist Convention (GBC) is poised to cut ties with a historic member congregation over the issue of women in ministry. The convention’s executive committee voted March 16 to declare Druid Hills Baptist Church in Atlanta not a “cooperating church” as defined in the GBC constitution and to recommend the congregation be excluded from membership at the convention’s annual meeting this fall.
The action is based on a vote by the convention in November 2000 affirming the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message as the state body’s doctrinal statement. The document includes the phrase, “While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.”
“We are keeping faith with the Baptist Faith and Message with regard to women serving as pastor,” said Robert White, executive director of the state convention. “The GBC has never been opposed to women serving in ministry positions other than pastor.”
Graham Walker, co-pastor of Druid Hills Baptist with his wife, Mimi, said White acknowledged in a Jan. 25 meeting that Mimi Walker, who has been listed as a pastor in the state convention’s annual record book since 2003, would not have been a problem before the state group voted to adopt changes made to the document in 2000 as the convention’s standard. Under the revised standard, White reportedly said, the convention “no longer” accepts autonomous churches that choose to call a woman as their pastor.
Graham Walker said unlike First Baptist Church, Decatur, which did not send messengers to last year’s convention meeting to challenge its removal for calling a woman pastor in 2007, Druid Hills plans to be present at the Nov. 15–16 GBC meeting at Sherwood Baptist Church, Albany, to respond.
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