“Does not wisdom call, and does not understanding raise her voice? On the heights, beside the way, at the crossroads she takes her stand; beside the gates in front of the town, at the entrance of the portals she cries out: ‘To you, O people, I call, and my cry is to all that live. O simple ones, learn prudence; acquire intelligence, you who lack it. Hear, for I will speak noble things, and from my lips will come what is right…”—Proverbs 8: 1-6 (NRSV)

Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP Photo

https://abcnews.com/US/southern-baptists-vote-ban-women-pastors-sparks-outcry/story?id=133747095 

Sadly, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) won’t be hearing her. Too bad about those she/her pronouns.

Earlier this month, the SBC chose to double down on restrictions upon women in ministry leadership. Members of the convention voted in favor of a “Truth and Unity Amendment” that would bar churches with women pastors or that permit women to preach on Sunday morning. This amendment will become policy if next year’s convention also votes to support it. A related policy resolution titled “On the Office and Function of Pastor/Elder/Overseer” closed any further loopholes, arguing that the New Testament “presents the pastoral office and the function of pastoral oversight of the church as inseparably connected.”[1]

In other words, no women allowed—in preaching or in any congregational leadership roles that could conceivably place them in positions of authority over men.

As Lutheran Christians, we (thank goodness) follow the advice of Martin Luther to let “scripture interpret scripture.” In other words, what does the entirety of the Bible have to say about God’s creation and the human creatures that live within? The task force that developed the 2019 ELCA Social Statement “Faith, Sexism, and Justice: A Call to Action” identified four themes, eloquently described by Mary Elise Lowe and Mary J. Streufert as “the warp threads that support the call for gender justice”: flourishing, abundant life, new creation, and diversity. In the Bible, Christians are called to support flourishing for all humans; to support abundant life for everyone; to trust God’s promise that God is always making us new in Christ; and to celebrate the brilliant diversity of God’s creation.[2]

Empowered by these deeply scriptural themes, we are freed to notice the many and various places in the Bible where women have boldly proclaimed God’s promises. We can observe where God has been at work throughout history in the lives of women, empowering them to proclaim the Good News in word and deed. St. Perpetua wrote her own story, then chose death rather than denying her faith. Catherine of Siena obeyed God’s call to evangelism, defying the mores of the 14^th century after hearing God say, “Does it not depend on My will where I shall pour out my grace?” Following years of stifling God’s call to preaching after being told (by a man) she shouldn’t, Jarena Lee answered that call mid-church service one Sunday in the early 1800s: after her pastor froze mid-sermon, she found herself springing, “as by altogether unnatural impulse,” to deliver her own exhortation. Her naysayer decided that perhaps he’d been wrong. Lee spent the next twenty years as an itinerant preacher.[3]

We would be poorer, indeed, without the witness of these and so many other women. And we are poorer today because of the many times women’s unique calls to proclamation and leadership have been stifled. Whose witness have we failed to hear because she was a woman? Whose wisdom do we lack because of her anatomy?

I give thanks to God for the ELCA. No human institution, including this one, is perfect, but at least I have the freedom to answer the calls to both proclamation and leadership that God has sent me. And I mourn the many callings our SBC siblings will miss. What a painful—and unscriptural—loss.

Wisdom is calling. May we all, someday, learn to listen.

Augsburg Fortress Publishers affirms and celebrates the proclamation and leadership of women. Find resources for personal study, worship, and more here!

[1] Adelle M. Banks, “Southern Baptists oppose amnesty, political violence, women pastors at annual meeting,” Religious News Service, June 11, 2026, https://religionnews.com/2026/06/11/southern-baptists-oppose-amnesty-political-violence-women-pastors-in-resolutions/.

[2] Mary Elise Lowe and Mary J. Streufert, Reengaging ELCA Social Teaching on Faith, Sexism, and Justice (Augsburg Fortress, 2025), 17-19.

[3] On St. Perpetua and Catherine of Siena, see Laura Gifford, “A Force of Nature,” Gather 38:2 (March/April/May 2025), 34-36; on Jerena Lee, see Laura Gifford, “Telling Her Own Story,” Gather 33:9 (November 2020), 34-37.