The Practice Of Pastoral Ministry Transition Among Independent Baptist Churches

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian L. SUAREZ
2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-145
Author(s):  
Marv Knox

What happens when pastors attempt to lead their congregations to conduct civil discussions about potentially polarizing issues? How can congregations engage difficult, controversial, or otherwise challenging issues without splintering, and perhaps even leverage those conversations to achieve charitable clarity and greater unity? Based on interviews with respected pastors, this article examines seven local Baptist churches that engaged in processes that propelled them to examine, discuss, and sometimes make decisions regarding topics that could have fractured their fellowship. Topics range from race, to baptism, to LGBTQ inclusion, to church staff and budgets, to other challenging subjects. In the case studies, each pastor discusses: (a) the issue or issues the church confronted; (b) how the church went about examining, discussing, and deciding on the issue or issues; (c) the results of those processes, or what happened when they talked; (d) what went right; (e) what went wrong; and (f) what the pastor would do differently the next time the congregation enters a similar process. The insights presented by these case studies offer guidance for pastors and church leaders whose congregations face polarizing experiences. In addition, they provide useful material for student discussions of pastoral ministry and ethics.


Author(s):  
Valdir Stephanini

Este artigo lida com a questão da presença de mulheres no ministério pastoral em Igrejas Batistas filiadas à Convenção Batista Brasileira. Tendo como referencial teórico, conceitos como ordenação, consagração e imposição de mãos à luz da teologia batista o texto propõe uma abordagem bíblico-teológica da questão. O tema vem recebendo inúmeros debates e discussões por parte dos batistas brasileiros nas últimas décadas, sem consenso entre suas lideranças. A Convenção Batista Brasileira transferiu a responsabilidade da decisão de permitir ou não a presença de mulheres no ministério pastoral para os pastores batistas do Brasil membros da Ordem dos Pastores Batistas do Brasil (OPBB). The OPBB, por sua vez, transferiu a responsabilidade da decisão para as seções regionais de pastores, em cada estado da federação brasileira, que decidiram pela aceitação ou rejeição da matéria. Aspectos pragmáticos ajudam a elucidar a coerência de se conceder a condição de pastoras para as mulheres que já tem servido na liderança de Igrejas Batistas ao longo de sua história, sem, contudo, receber o status de pastoras.This article deals with the question of the presence of women in the pastoral ministry in Baptist Churches affiliated to the Brazilian Baptist Convention. Having as theoretical reference, concepts such as ordination, consecration and imposition of hands in the light of Baptist theology, the text proposes a biblical-theological approach to the question. The theme has been receiving countless debates and discussions on the part of the Brazilian Baptists in the last decades, without consensus among its leaderships. The Brazilian Baptist Convention transferred the responsibility for deciding whether or not to allow the presence of women in the pastoral ministry for the Brazilian Baptists Pastors members of the Brazilian Baptists Pastors Bureau (Ordem dos Pastores Batistas do Brasil - OPBB). The OPBB, in turn, transferred the responsibility of the decision to the regional sections of pastors, in each state of the Brazilian federation, that decided for the acceptance or rejection of the matter. Pragmatic aspects help to elucidate the consistency of granting pastoral status to women who have already served in the leadership of Baptist Churches throughout their history, without, however, receiving pastoral status.


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