SBC messengers vote on ERLC and ban on women pastors in final hours of annual meeting in Dallas
Messengers attending the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) Annual Meeting in Dallas voted June 11 to retain the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) – the Convention’s controversial public policy arm – and also defeated a proposed constitutional ban on churches with women pastors.
The votes came shortly before adjournment of the two-day meeting of the SBC, the nation’s largest Protestant denomination.
Voting 3,744 to 2,819, messengers affirmed the ERLC, which has survived numerous attempts at its abolition in recent years. Proponents of abolishing the entity contend it is tainted by liberal ideology on a number of important social issues.
The vote to prohibit women pastors serving in SBC churches – referred to as the “Law Amendment” – received a 3,421 to 2,191 vote, which at 61% fell short of the two-thirds support needed to initiate a constitutional ban.
SBC Calls for End to Same-Sex Marriage
Messengers voted June 10 to approve a resolution calling for the reversal of Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage.
The resolution urges lawmakers and courts to roll back decisions and statutes that affirm marriage equality, and affirms support for marriage “between one man and one woman.” It marks the first formal call by the SBC to challenge the legal recognition of same-sex marriage.
Supporters of the Obergefell resolution said it was inspired by the long-term and incremental push that resulted in courts overturning Roe v. Wade.
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