Kentucky church among churches ousted by Southern Baptist Convention for having woman pastor

The Southern Baptist Convention on Tuesday ousted churches for having a woman pastor and over abuse-related reports, solidifying a trend in the recent reasons churches involuntary exit from the denomination.

The churches — Immanuel Baptist Church in Paducah, Kentucky; Grove Road Baptist Church in Greenville, South Carolina; West Hendersonville Baptist Church in Hendersonville, North Carolina; and New Hope Baptist Church in Gastonia, North Carolina — are the newest addition to 14 other churches the Nashville-based denomination disfellowshipped since the reformulation of an SBC group to review reports against churches.

Recommendations from that SBC group, called the SBC Credentials Committee, have now led to the ouster of six churches for abuse-related reports and six churches in which a woman is a senior or lead pastor. The figures point to the increasing influence of a debate over the status of women pastors in the SBC versus the denomination's response to clergy abuse, an issue that largely fueled the credentials committee’s reform five years ago.

The SBC Executive Committee announced a decision to disfellowship the four churches in a meeting Tuesday in Nashville following an executive session to discuss and vote on a recommendation against the churches. The SBC Executive Committee, comprised of about 20 staff and an 86-member board of elected representatives, manages denomination business outside of the SBC annual meeting.

The executive committee approved the ouster of Immanuel Baptist in Kentucky due to a woman, Katie McKown, serving as the church’s senior minister. The credentials committee recommended the ouster of Grove Road Baptist in South Carolina and West Hendersonville Baptist in North Carolina following abuse-related reports against the churches.

The stated reasons for the ouster of New Hope Baptist in North Carolina was due to the church's "lack of reported financial participation for at least the last five years." But the church has previously come under scrutiny for a past deacon who was sentenced to prison in 2008 for charges including statutory rape, according to information contained in a list maintained by Southern Baptist leaders of churches with a history of clergy abuse. It’s unclear if that history at New Hope Baptist factored into someone initially reporting the church to the credentials committee.

The ouster of Grove Road Baptist followed "a lack of intent to cooperate in resolving a concern regarding the pastor’s mishandling of an allegation of sexual abuse," said the SBC Executive Committee in a statement.

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Churches ousted for abuse-related reports

The SBC disfellowshipped 18 total churches since the convention refashioned its credentials committee in June 2019 to better evaluate churches for racist behavior or mishandling abuse.

In previous abuse-related cases, the executive committee disfellowshipped churches for hiring registered sex offenders or for the pastor’s questionable or problematic past, such as a more recent case with Freedom Church in Vero Beach, Florida.

Among the latest additions, West Hendersonville Baptist in North Carolina employed a pastor who is “biblically disqualified” according to SBC standards on abuse response.

That pastor, Jerry Mullinax, faced discipline in 2003 when he taught at a middle school and reportedly sent “improper emails” to a female student, according to news reports. The North Carolina Board of Education revoked Mullinax’s teaching license in 2004.

When the SBC Executive Committee approves a church’s ouster, that church can appeal the decision before the full convention at the SBC annual meeting. Freedom Church appealed its ouster at the 2023 SBC annual meeting but to no avail. Southern Baptist voting delegates, called messengers, rejected Freedom Church’s appeal despite the absence of key information about the case, including the extent of the credentials committee’s review versus its reliance on a similar decision by the Florida Baptist Convention.

Different protocols among state Southern Baptist conventions also contribute to variability in the churches that come under review at the national level. For example, some state conventions have adopted a similar model to the SBC at the national level for reviewing abuse-related claims against churches.

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Churches ousted over women pastors

More recently, a broader debate over the status of women pastors in the SBC has led to added responsibilities for the credentials committee.

Last year, the executive committee approved the ouster of five churches for having women pastors, including Saddleback Church, the Southern California megachurch, and Fern Creek Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky. Those latter two churches appealed their ouster at the 2023 SBC annual meeting, but messengers overwhelmingly voted against the church’s reentry.

In the most recent case of Immanuel Baptist in Kentucky, the church’s senior minister, Katie McKown, started leading the church in May. Prior to her time at Immanuel Baptist, McKown was the first woman pastor of a Southern Baptist church in Scottsville, Virginia.

The credentials committee has only recommended the ouster of churches in which women serve as lead or senior pastors, not associate-level pastors. The SBC is currently sorting through its posture on affiliation with churches with women pastors. The convention will vote for a second and final time at this year’s SBC annual meeting in June in Indianapolis whether to approve a measure seeking to enshrine a ban on women pastors. Meanwhile, the SBC Cooperation Group is studying how the denomination should best align its constitutional standards for church affiliation with its doctrinal statements of belief.

Though much remains to be seen, previous ousters have already set a precedent. Following the SBC’s decision to uphold Fern Creek’s ouster, the Kentucky Baptist Convention rendered a similar verdict against the Louisville church.

Liam Adams covers religion for The Tennessean. Reach him at ladams@tennessean.com or on social media @liamsadams.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Southern Baptist Convention ousts Kentucky church for having woman pastor