Texas megachurch leaves Southern Baptist Convention
A megachurch in Texas has announced that it has exited the Southern Baptist Convention following a discernment process that lasted several months.
Park Cities Baptist Church of Dallas released a statement Tuesday explaining that it held a church conference on Sunday and decided to disaffiliate with the SBC.
According to the statement, while “there were multiple matters raised, the concern for the autonomy of the local church and the desire to determine the timing and grace of any separation from the SBC were of paramount importance.”
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“As part of the motion to withdraw, the church affirmed that it is a God-glorifying, Gospel-centered, Bible-believing, theologically conservative Baptist church and that neither its doctrine nor its beliefs have changed,” stated Park Cities Baptist Church.
Additionally, the congregation still intends “to work with and support specific projects from” the International Mission Board and the North American Mission Board, which are SBC entities.
“In all of this, we will all seek to glorify the Lord, build up the church, unify the overall Body of Christ, and proclaim the Gospel even more effectively,” concluded the church statement. “We move forward together as a church family to further the Gospel in the unity of the Spirit to the glory of God.”
Founded in 1939 as an SBC congregation, Park Cities Baptist Church has been limited in its overall support for the Convention for the past two decades, reported the Baptist Standard.
In addition, while not mentioned directly in the announcement, Park Cities Baptist Church has supported having women serve in the office of pastor, which goes against the stance of the SBC.
Park Cities Baptist Pastor Jeff Warren advocated for allowing women to serve as pastors, including in an opinion column published by the Baptist Standard last year.
“Jesus did not genderize the Great Commission, nor does God dispense spiritual gifts to his children according to sex. We must release every girl and boy, woman and man into their God-given calling,” wrote Warren.
“Relegating women to specific roles — often preschool, children, youth, worship or women’s ministries — is to narrow the work of a gift-filled congregation and thus stifle the advancement of the gospel.”
Earlier this year, at the SBC Annual Meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana, messengers failed to pass an amendment that would have permanently banned women from serving as pastors, getting 61% support when they needed at least a two-thirds majority.
Nevertheless, in recent years, multiple churches, including Saddleback Church of California, have been disfellowshipped from the SBC over allowing women to serve as pastors.
Disclosure: One of The Christian Post’s editors is a member of Park Cities Baptist Church but did not vote in this congregational decision to withdraw its membership from the SBC.
