Southern Baptist Convention Stands Firm on Male-Only Pastors Despite Controversy

The Southern Baptist Convention's move to bar women from church leadership reflects growing anxieties among evangelicals about changing norms around gender and sexuality in America. The ultraconservative faction within the denomination is seizing power and making allegiances with theological and political allies outside the denomination. The crackdown on women is about biblical interpretation, but it also reveals the power of the insurgent right and its increasing intertwining with mainstream evangelicalism. The move to oust women will force a greater reshuffling of power within the denomination, which is already fracturing.