![]() “I made this appeal privately but was not heard.” ![]() I’ve been Baptist most of my life, Southern Baptist for almost two decades,” Prior tweeted. ![]() “This is the most heartbreaking letter I’ve ever signed. The Patterson controversy escalated quickly the week before SWBTS’s May 4 graduation ceremony, after critics circulated archival clips of the 75-year-old former SBC president and two-time seminary head saying whether a woman should leave an abusive husband “depends on the level of abuse” and that divorce is “always wrong counsel.” The women’s letter also criticized Patterson’s characterization of a 16-year-old girl as “nice” and “built” in a 2014 sermon anecdote. Their plea to the trustees follows Beth Moore’s own viral open letter posted last week, confessing her uncomfortable experiences as a woman in Southern Baptist culture and broadly decrying sexism in the church. Signatories for the women’s petition hail from a wide array of noteworthy congregations including Bellevue Baptist Church, Capitol Hill Baptist, Cross Church, First Baptist Church of Dallas, Houston’s First Baptist Church, Long Hollow Baptist Church, Prestonwood Baptist Church, Saddleback Church, Thomas Road Baptist Church, and The Village Church. “We should have noticed this long ago, and we were at fault for ignoring it until our sisters pointed it out.”) “We are likewise grieved by the comments-heartbroken over the effect they have on our sisters in the faith, concerned about the wrong message they send to the world about the value and dignity of women, and aggrieved by the poor gospel witness,” it read. ![]() (Update: An accompanying petition designed for men was released three days later, on May 9. Some men also signed on, though the petition is intended for women at SBC churches who affirm the denomination’s complementarian theology. The letter comes from scores of Southern Baptist women, including leaders such as: Karen Swallow Prior, a Liberty University professor and research fellow with the Ethics and Religious Liberty Convention Lauren Chandler, an author, worship singer, and wife of The Village Church pastor Matt Chandler Jennifer Lyell, a vice president at SBC-affiliated B&H Publishing Group Amanda Jones, a Houston church planter and daughter of Bible teacher Beth Moore and Mary DeMuth, an author, speaker, and victims’ advocate. “The cannot allow the biblical view of leadership to be misused in such a way.” “The fact that he has not fully repudiated his earlier counsel or apologized for his inappropriate words indicates that he continues to maintain positions that are at odds with Southern Baptists and, more importantly, the Bible’s elevated view of womanhood,” states the letter. Patterson’s past remarks,” stated an open letter to SWBTS trustees, which grew from 100 to more than 1,000 signatories on Sunday night. Patterson, one of the most influential leaders in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), has faced widespread criticism in recent weeks for old remarks, including a discussion of divorce in cases of abuse and multiple comments on women’s appearances. A growing group of Southern Baptist women called for Paige Patterson to be removed as president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS) on Sunday, due to what they claimed was his “unbiblical view of authority, womanhood, and sexuality.”
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