Southern Baptists tighten restrictions on women leaders and expel churches with women pastors.
The Southern Baptist Convention has refused to readmit Saddleback Church, one of the largest congregations in the US, after it was ousted for having female pastors. The convention also upheld the expulsion of two other congregations, Fern Creek Baptist Church and Freedom Church, for similar reasons. The Southern Baptist Convention banned female pastors in its Faith and Message doctrine in 2000, and representatives approved a constitutional amendment to clarify the organization's stance on women serving as pastors. Saddleback Church's founding pastor, Rick Warren, asked the convention to "agree to disagree" on the subject of female pastors.