Tenn. Church Is Hit for Hiring Woman Pastor; SBC May End Its Ties with Jefferson City Church

A Tennessee Baptist church may lose its voting rights and be severed from the state Baptist Convention because of its decision to hire a female pastor -- which the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) does not allow -- the Christian Post website reports today (November 10, 2017).


The decision of the First Baptist Church (FBC) in Jefferson City to hire Ellen DiGiosia to to be senior pastor has resulted in a committee of the Tennessee Baptist Convention to deem the congregation "not a cooperating church."


DiGiosia is the only female pastor leading a church connected with the Tennessee Baptist Convention (TBC). Although other women lead Baptist churches in the state, those congregations are not linked to the TBC.


"It is regrettable when one of our churches makes a decision that results in a broken confessional relationship with out TBC network of churches," said Randy Davis, president and executive director of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board.