Southern Baptists address ethical concerns with IVF, maintain stance on women pastors at annual meeting

The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) approved a resolution Wednesday urging caution regarding in vitro fertilization (IVF), the same day it rejected a codification of its stance against women pastors.

Contrary to media reports, the IVF resolution, which was overwhelmingly passed by more than 10,000 messengers present at the meeting, is not a blanket condemnation of the practice.

Rather, the resolution emphasizes the group’s historic views on the dignity of life, applying it to the many thousands, perhaps millions, of human embryos created through IVF.

“The In Vitro Fertilization process routinely creates more embryos than can reasonably be implanted, thus resulting in the continued freezing, stockpiling, and ultimate destruction of human embryos, some of which may also be subjected to medical experimentation,” one part of the resolution reads, before calling on Southern Baptists “to only utilize reproductive technologies consistent with that affirmation.”

The SBC is considered to be the largest Protestant denomination in the country.

Earlier in the day messengers also voted on a constitutional amendment that would formally define a member church as one that “affirms, appoints, or employs only men as any kind of pastor or elder as qualified by Scripture.” 

Such amendments require two-thirds passage at consecutive annual meetings. Though it passed last year, it fell just short this year with 61.45% approval, The Pathway reported. 

Some Southern Baptists feel the formalization is unnecessary since the SBC’s faith statement already affirms male-only pastors.

“While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor/elder/overseer is limited to men as qualified by Scripture,” reads the Baptist Faith & Message 2000.

Last year, three churches were disfellowshipped over support of women pastors, including the largest church in the denomination. Tuesday, another church was removed over the same issue.