Bart Barber Appoints Liberal Committee To Protect Female Pastors In SBC

At the Annual Southern Baptist Convention of 2023, the Southern Baptist messengers passed an amendment to add a provision to the SBC constitution a clause about churches with female pastors being not in friendly cooperation with the Southern Baptist Convention, in what was known as the Mike Law Amendment. However these same messengers also passed a motion, made by five liberal former SBC presidents, to create a committee that will define friendly cooperation. The move, if successful, will undercut the effectiveness of the Mike Law Amendment in purging the rot in the SBC.

• Jared Wellman, pastor of Tate Springs Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas, will serve as chair.
• Victor Chayasirisobhon – executive and co-lead pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Anaheim, Calif. He was 1st Vice President from 2022-2023
• Jerome Coleman – pastor of First Baptist Church Crestmont in Willow Grove, Pa. He has a female pastor at his church. Additionally, he has female deacons who are not working in tandem with their husbands as deacons of the church.

• Tara Dew – speaker and wife of Jamie Dew, president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary
• Donna Gaines – speaker, author and Bible teacher, wife of Steve Gaines, pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova, Tenn. Steve Gaines was one of the liberal SBC presidents who pushed for this committee to be made.
• Matt Henslee – associational missionary, Collins Baptist Association in McKinney, Texas. Henslee is a pastor of Bart Barber’s church.
• Travis Kerns – associational mission strategist, Three Rivers Baptist Association in Taylors, S.C.
• Richard Land – former president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. Evangelical Dark Web has long documented the insidious influence of Richard Land. He is one of the worst men on this committee.
• Jonathan Leeman – editorial director at 9Marks, elder at Cheverly Baptist Church in Bladensburg, Md. Jonathan Leeman is the woke right hand man of Mark Dever.
• Jason Paredes – lead pastor, Fielder Church in Arlington, Texas, a multicampus megachurch.
• Gregory Perkins – lead pastor, The View Church in Menifee, Calif.; current president of the National African American Fellowship. See: SBC Prepares Race Narrative Over Black Churches and Female Pastors
• Jim Richards – executive director emeritus, Southern Baptists of Texas Convention
• Juan Sanchez – senior pastor, High Pointe Baptist Church in Austin, Texas. Sanchez might be the most reliable man on this committee, in terms of known quantities. While he is Big Eva, he was part of the movement to pass the Mike Law Amendment.
• Andrew Walker – Ethics and Public Theology professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He’s practically a Russell Moore wannabe.
• Trevin Wax – author and vice president of Research & Resource Development at the North American Mission Board. He’s a woke company man.
• Tony Wolfe – executive director-treasurer, South Carolina Baptist Convention

Analysis

Bart Barber didn’t stack the committee with reliable people. Instead there is at least one member whose church would be disfellowshipped under the Mike Law Amendment and the Rick Warren precedent. Even the people who backed the Mike Law Amendment at SBC23, like Jonathan Leeman, are prone to buckle. Leeman being extremely woke will likely balk at disfellowshipping liberal black churches.

The Mike Law Amendment is most certainly in trouble.