Female Christian leaders reflect on the Southern Baptist Convention’s decision to remove women-led churches

CNN
 — 

For Southern Baptists, the last week has been one to remember.

The Southern Baptist Convention — the largest Protestant Christian denomination in the country — voted last week at its annual meeting to uphold the expulsion of two churches led by women pastors: Fern Creek in Louisville, Kentucky, which has had Rev. Linda Barnes Popham as its pastor since 1993, and Saddleback Church, a major southern California congregation with more than a dozen campuses founded by pastor and “The Purpose Driven Life” author Rick Warren.

That vote alone prompted questions from some Christian women, both inside and outside the SBC. But then, the denomination also moved to expand an…