Women in Ministry
Women in Ministry (reflecting on the SBC decision)
At the Southern Baptist Convention's (SBC) annual meeting in Orlando in June 2026, messengers voted overwhelmingly to advance a constitutional amendment that would formally bar churches with women serving in pastoral roles from cooperating with the SBC. The SBC's Baptist Faith and Message 2000 already states that the office of pastor is limited to men, but this amendment seeks to further clarify and enforce that position.
As these discussions continue within the broader church, it is important to understand where Thunder Mountain Church stands.
Three Views
Generally speaking, there are three primary positions (throughout all denominations) regarding men and women in church leadership.
Patriarchal
This view holds that God has entrusted leadership authority and teaching responsibility to men (taken from a literal interpretation of 1 Timothy 2:12 and 1 Corinthians 14:34-35). “Women’s roles,” in a patriarchal structure, are to teach other women and the children. The role of “helper” in Genesis 2:18 is seen as serving the man, and women are generally not allowed to exercise spiritual authority over men or teach men in formal settings. This is usually applied to the church and the home but not in places of business.
My personal view is that God’s order should be applied consistently and not limited in application to only the home or the church.
Complementarian
This view maintains that God created men and women with differences and that God’s intention is reflected in that He intended “governing oversight” to be a responsibility given to men, but it differs from Patriarchalism in that women are free to use their gifts (even leadership and teaching) within that biblical framework.
The distinctions are believed to come from appeals to creation by both Jesus (Matthew 19) and Paul (Ephesians 5), as well as the examples of Jesus choosing men as apostles and how Paul directed men to be selected as elders (1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9).
Another key distinction from Patriarchalism is that Genesis 2:18 is interpreted as “partner” or “counterpart,” as well as how the practices of Jesus and Paul gave women a voice and freedom in using their gifts in ministry (i.e. Acts 18:26 and the gender-neutral language in Ephesians 4:1-12, Matthew 28:18-20).
Egalitarian
This view teaches that any distinction between men and women came as a result of the Fall of Man (i.e., sin) and that Jesus' sacrifice on the cross removed any and all distinctions and therefore all leadership roles and offices in the church should be open to both men and women without distinction (Galatians 3:28).
The Historic Position of Thunder Mountain Church
Historically, Thunder Mountain Church would be best described as holding an elder-led complementarian position, meaning that the “overseers” (elders) are men and everyone else serves using their gifts under the “covering” provided by the eldership through the Lead Pastor (who is also an elder).
"We believe that men and women are equally created in the image of God, equally gifted by the Holy Spirit, and equally valuable in God's Kingdom. Apart from the biblical qualifications for the office of elder, ministry responsibilities should be determined primarily by giftedness rather than gender."
What About "Preaching"?
Our position has been that the roles of Lead Pastor and Teaching Pastor will be occupied by men but that women can teach from the pulpit in our worship gatherings.
An example of this involves a woman who was invited as a guest speaker a few years ago and, knowing her parents (and realizing that they were Southern Baptists), I asked if they were coming to hear their daughter “preach.”
Her mother blushed and replied, "We call it sharing."
We laughed, but the moment illustrated the common struggle in that we all “do” what we believe, but we sometimes feel the need to call it something else in order to conform to our doctrine. My perspective is that calling it something else doesn't change what it is.
Regardless of whether the speaker is male or female, no one possesses authority apart from the Word of God. The authority does not reside in the person; the authority is in the scriptures they teach.
Doesn’t it seem inconsistent when men who listen to The Bible ReCap with Tara Leigh Cobble during the week will walk out of church rather than sit and listen to a woman teach the Word of God in church on a Sunday morning?
What About Ordination?
To many, ordination is the process of how men are installed into the role of “overseer.” This doesn’t come from the bible but became assumed because historically, that was the only full-time vocational role in ministry, because the vast majority of congregations operated with a single pastor model.
As churches have grown, multi-staff are much more common, and with ministry roles becoming more specialized, many churches have revisited the meaning of ordination to setting apart men or women for the Lord’s work in vocational ministry (rather than only pertaining to the office of overseer).
What about Authority?
At Thunder Mountain Church, the body of elders has the responsibility of overseeing the flock and, since all authority is God’s authority, any authority they possess comes from God through the Scriptures.
Their authority flows through the Lead Pastor to the staff for the purpose of equipping the congregation (Ephesians 4:11-12) to accomplish the mission God has given us. The Lead Pastor (me) is then accountable to his fellow elders for the results.
Everyone is accountable for how they exercise the authority delegated to us (no exceptions). No one (male or female) is to usurp the authority placed over them (I believe this is consistent with the intent of 1 Timothy 2:12).
Why Is the SBC Taking Such a Strong Position?
I think there are two reasons for their actions:
1) The more patriarchal position is achieved from a literal interpretation of Paul’s words without taking into account Paul’s practices. This is the same approach taken by those who maintain baptism is essential for salvation. Good Hermeneutics (principles of scripture interpretation) requires that all Scripture be taken into account.
2) I believe many Southern Baptists see this issue as a slippery slope. Their concern is that allowing women into pastoral roles may eventually lead churches toward theological liberalism and a diminished commitment to biblical authority.
I understand that (2nd) concern.
However, I believe church leaders have a responsibility to know where the biblical line actually is and to faithfully uphold it. Creating additional boundaries beyond what Scripture requires in order to prevent someone from crossing another line may feel safer, but it is not necessarily more biblical.
Our goal is not to be more restrictive nor less restrictive than Scripture. Our goal is to submit ourselves faithfully to the Bible as the Word of God and to not make extra-biblical rules because we are afraid of violating Scripture. This practice is what made the Pharisees pharisaical.
What Is a Pastor?
We have not yet figured out how this title should be used and who should receive it.
The confusion seems to come from the fact that “Pastor” is seen both as an office (overseer) and as a function (someone who cares for people by “shepherding” them, which is literally what “pastor” means).
We have men and women with the responsibility to “shepherd” people in their ministries and have no intentions of restricting this practice. So far, we have only given this title to men while a woman with the same job description is called a “Director”.
We need to figure out how to make our faith and our practice consistent so that everyone (male or female) can function equally with the measure of authority each has been given (no more and no less).
Bottom Line
Thunder Mountain Church remains committed to an elder-led complementarian position: qualified men have the responsibility to serve in the biblical role of elder, functioning as overseers of the congregation, while empowering both men and women to fully use their God-given gifts to accomplish our mission in ways consistent with our values and axioms.
As Lead Pastor, I oversee the teaching ministry of the church and the daily operations of our staff while remaining accountable to my fellow elders for the results. There are women who lead, and there will be (again) women who teach.
In math, the purpose of the denominator is to divide the numerator. That's how we get fractions. It is unfortunate when Christians divide over matters on which sincere believers have disagreed for centuries. As a non-denominational church, we strive to maintain unity around the essentials of Scripture and the Gospel.
Our responsibility as men and women is to be united around the essentials of the Gospel, because the Gospel is still the only hope we have to offer to the world, and people will KNOW (by experience) we are His disciples by the love we have for one another!
At the Southern Baptist Convention's (SBC) annual meeting in Orlando in June 2026, messengers voted overwhelmingly to advance a constitutional amendment that would formally bar churches with women serving in pastoral roles from cooperating with the SBC. The SBC's Baptist Faith and Message 2000 already states that the office of pastor is limited to men, but this amendment seeks to further clarify and enforce that position.
As these discussions continue within the broader church, it is important to understand where Thunder Mountain Church stands.
Three Views
Generally speaking, there are three primary positions (throughout all denominations) regarding men and women in church leadership.
Patriarchal
This view holds that God has entrusted leadership authority and teaching responsibility to men (taken from a literal interpretation of 1 Timothy 2:12 and 1 Corinthians 14:34-35). “Women’s roles,” in a patriarchal structure, are to teach other women and the children. The role of “helper” in Genesis 2:18 is seen as serving the man, and women are generally not allowed to exercise spiritual authority over men or teach men in formal settings. This is usually applied to the church and the home but not in places of business.
My personal view is that God’s order should be applied consistently and not limited in application to only the home or the church.
Complementarian
This view maintains that God created men and women with differences and that God’s intention is reflected in that He intended “governing oversight” to be a responsibility given to men, but it differs from Patriarchalism in that women are free to use their gifts (even leadership and teaching) within that biblical framework.
The distinctions are believed to come from appeals to creation by both Jesus (Matthew 19) and Paul (Ephesians 5), as well as the examples of Jesus choosing men as apostles and how Paul directed men to be selected as elders (1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9).
Another key distinction from Patriarchalism is that Genesis 2:18 is interpreted as “partner” or “counterpart,” as well as how the practices of Jesus and Paul gave women a voice and freedom in using their gifts in ministry (i.e. Acts 18:26 and the gender-neutral language in Ephesians 4:1-12, Matthew 28:18-20).
Egalitarian
This view teaches that any distinction between men and women came as a result of the Fall of Man (i.e., sin) and that Jesus' sacrifice on the cross removed any and all distinctions and therefore all leadership roles and offices in the church should be open to both men and women without distinction (Galatians 3:28).
The Historic Position of Thunder Mountain Church
Historically, Thunder Mountain Church would be best described as holding an elder-led complementarian position, meaning that the “overseers” (elders) are men and everyone else serves using their gifts under the “covering” provided by the eldership through the Lead Pastor (who is also an elder).
"We believe that men and women are equally created in the image of God, equally gifted by the Holy Spirit, and equally valuable in God's Kingdom. Apart from the biblical qualifications for the office of elder, ministry responsibilities should be determined primarily by giftedness rather than gender."
What About "Preaching"?
Our position has been that the roles of Lead Pastor and Teaching Pastor will be occupied by men but that women can teach from the pulpit in our worship gatherings.
An example of this involves a woman who was invited as a guest speaker a few years ago and, knowing her parents (and realizing that they were Southern Baptists), I asked if they were coming to hear their daughter “preach.”
Her mother blushed and replied, "We call it sharing."
We laughed, but the moment illustrated the common struggle in that we all “do” what we believe, but we sometimes feel the need to call it something else in order to conform to our doctrine. My perspective is that calling it something else doesn't change what it is.
Regardless of whether the speaker is male or female, no one possesses authority apart from the Word of God. The authority does not reside in the person; the authority is in the scriptures they teach.
Doesn’t it seem inconsistent when men who listen to The Bible ReCap with Tara Leigh Cobble during the week will walk out of church rather than sit and listen to a woman teach the Word of God in church on a Sunday morning?
What About Ordination?
To many, ordination is the process of how men are installed into the role of “overseer.” This doesn’t come from the bible but became assumed because historically, that was the only full-time vocational role in ministry, because the vast majority of congregations operated with a single pastor model.
As churches have grown, multi-staff are much more common, and with ministry roles becoming more specialized, many churches have revisited the meaning of ordination to setting apart men or women for the Lord’s work in vocational ministry (rather than only pertaining to the office of overseer).
What about Authority?
At Thunder Mountain Church, the body of elders has the responsibility of overseeing the flock and, since all authority is God’s authority, any authority they possess comes from God through the Scriptures.
Their authority flows through the Lead Pastor to the staff for the purpose of equipping the congregation (Ephesians 4:11-12) to accomplish the mission God has given us. The Lead Pastor (me) is then accountable to his fellow elders for the results.
Everyone is accountable for how they exercise the authority delegated to us (no exceptions). No one (male or female) is to usurp the authority placed over them (I believe this is consistent with the intent of 1 Timothy 2:12).
Why Is the SBC Taking Such a Strong Position?
I think there are two reasons for their actions:
1) The more patriarchal position is achieved from a literal interpretation of Paul’s words without taking into account Paul’s practices. This is the same approach taken by those who maintain baptism is essential for salvation. Good Hermeneutics (principles of scripture interpretation) requires that all Scripture be taken into account.
2) I believe many Southern Baptists see this issue as a slippery slope. Their concern is that allowing women into pastoral roles may eventually lead churches toward theological liberalism and a diminished commitment to biblical authority.
I understand that (2nd) concern.
However, I believe church leaders have a responsibility to know where the biblical line actually is and to faithfully uphold it. Creating additional boundaries beyond what Scripture requires in order to prevent someone from crossing another line may feel safer, but it is not necessarily more biblical.
Our goal is not to be more restrictive nor less restrictive than Scripture. Our goal is to submit ourselves faithfully to the Bible as the Word of God and to not make extra-biblical rules because we are afraid of violating Scripture. This practice is what made the Pharisees pharisaical.
What Is a Pastor?
We have not yet figured out how this title should be used and who should receive it.
The confusion seems to come from the fact that “Pastor” is seen both as an office (overseer) and as a function (someone who cares for people by “shepherding” them, which is literally what “pastor” means).
We have men and women with the responsibility to “shepherd” people in their ministries and have no intentions of restricting this practice. So far, we have only given this title to men while a woman with the same job description is called a “Director”.
We need to figure out how to make our faith and our practice consistent so that everyone (male or female) can function equally with the measure of authority each has been given (no more and no less).
Bottom Line
Thunder Mountain Church remains committed to an elder-led complementarian position: qualified men have the responsibility to serve in the biblical role of elder, functioning as overseers of the congregation, while empowering both men and women to fully use their God-given gifts to accomplish our mission in ways consistent with our values and axioms.
As Lead Pastor, I oversee the teaching ministry of the church and the daily operations of our staff while remaining accountable to my fellow elders for the results. There are women who lead, and there will be (again) women who teach.
In math, the purpose of the denominator is to divide the numerator. That's how we get fractions. It is unfortunate when Christians divide over matters on which sincere believers have disagreed for centuries. As a non-denominational church, we strive to maintain unity around the essentials of Scripture and the Gospel.
Our responsibility as men and women is to be united around the essentials of the Gospel, because the Gospel is still the only hope we have to offer to the world, and people will KNOW (by experience) we are His disciples by the love we have for one another!
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