Published on February 5, 2024, 1:02 am

In 2023, during the yearly assembly of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), certain churches were excluded from their ranks over explicit defiance of the denomination’s credo, famously known as the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 (BFM2K). One distinct church that faced this action was Saddleback Church, historically one of the largest congregations within the Southern Baptist community. The Saddleback Church was previously headed by Rick Warren and is currently operated by Andy Wood.

As per decisions made at the SBC’s annual meeting, a committee was formed to go over BFM2K with a view to clarifying an already clear stand on women serving in pastoral roles. The SBC president Bart Barber had the responsibility of nominating members to this committee which includes Jason Paredes. This designated group, known as “the cooperation group,” is assigned with studying “friendly cooperation” within their convention and is expected to confront issues that haven’t been explored before in their history.

The formation of this committee and selecting members such as Jason Paredes-upsurged controversy due to ongoing debates around doctrinal purity in Southern Baptism Convention concerning women serving in pastoral positions. Particularly for those who are criticizing this move could resulted into a scandalous scene where Paredes was found to have female pastors serving under him at his church, Fielder Church situated in Arlington.

In a conversation with Heath Lambert, Barber aimed at dispelling misunderstandings around his appointment of Jason Paredes stating that he supports complementarianism, doesn’t have women pastors but has appointed women “children’s ministers”, “pre-school ministers”, among other positions. Despite these justifications, it has been revealed that female ministers serving children and pre-schoolers are officially recognized as pastors in Fielder Church. Even their role of “college pastor” is filled by a woman.

On another note, notwithstanding various disagreements and protests surrounding Saddleback’s and other churches’ decision to permit women to serve in pastors roles, Jason Paredes has proudly claimed his stand. He was quoted voicing concern over the SBC’s choice to exclude such churches from their convention whilst asserting his own church has consistently employed female pastors. He goes as far as to confidently claim this plan aligns flawlessly with scripture.

In recent years, doctrine purity among member churches remains a heated debate topic in the Southern Baptism Convention, especially regarding women serving pastoral roles. This debate is further invigorated by parties such as Jason Paredes who maintain that they’re not just serving but also benefiting from having women serve in pastoral duties at their congregations. It is an evolving narrative within the community which continues to challenge conventional norms while adhering to the Christian worldview.

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