Southern Baptists have a reputation for drawing a hard line on pastors and divorce, but more and more it seems that laypeople are willing to take a minister’s whole life into account when it comes to calling a pastor.
The official Web site of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), www.sbc.net, includes a statement about pastors and divorce in a section on frequently asked questions about basic beliefs. The Web site states “… there is no policy within the Convention that addresses these matters (concerning a divorced person serving as a pastor or deacon in an SBC church).”
The explanation goes on to say that there are some Southern Baptist churches that have called pastors who have been divorced and some churches that would either not base their decision on the issue or would want to know the details of the divorce before deciding. Others, the site states, would not consider any divorced man for pastoral ministry.
Though many churches fall into the latter category, members of churches that have considered calling divorced men as pastors say that knowing the current life of the minister makes all the difference.
“I know that Baptists can be really funny about divorced men being a deacon or a pastor,” said Rodney, a member of a church in Cleburne Baptist Association. “But the way I look at it, if the Lord forgave them for that, it’s not my place to judge one way or the other.”
Rodney said the issue of divorce has never come up in pastor searches since he has been at his church and all the men who have served during that time were married at the time or had never been married.
He gave the example, however, of a preacher with divorce in his past who preached for the church during one interim period.
“I know this man and his life since he’s started preaching,” Rodney said. “He doesn’t feel led to accept a church, but if he had been willing, we would have considered him.”
The fact that many laypeople have experienced divorce in their own families and within their church families is one reason many give for understanding a pastor’s divorce.
Nita, a member of an Alabama Baptist church in west Alabama, said she has seen many people soften their attitudes toward divorce because of situations within their own families. She said divorce does not hold a stigma for her, especially when she knows the current life of the individual.
“It isn’t that we are not as strict on sin,” she said. “But we understand there are sometimes extenuating circumstances that are beyond an individual’s control.”
Nita’s pastor was called to preach many years after a divorce. Nita said she looks at the type of man he is now, not his past.
“If something in his lifestyle should come up now, I would judge it on his life now,” she said. “I would not say, ‘Oh, that’s because he’s a divorced man.’”
Jimmy, a member of another Alabama Baptist church in west Alabama whose pastor has been divorced, said he has spoken with many different ministers and laypeople throughout the years about the issue of divorce. He has come to believe that if the church feels led to call a man as pastor and the pastor feels led to the church, then a divorce is not enough reason to deny God’s direction.
“It might be different if the pastor left the church because he was having an affair with someone in the church or with his secretary, something like that,” Jimmy said. “But as long as the man is living and doing what he’s supposed to do and treating the congregation like he’s supposed to treat them, I’m not going to judge him for his past.”
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