Dear Southern Baptist Churches of the North Central Florida Baptist Association:

I write to you as a fellow local pastor and Southern Baptist. Tomorrow, when we gather for our semi-annual associational business meeting, it’s time for us to lovingly yet firmly defend our shared biblical commitments as expressed in our statement of faith, the Baptist Faith & Message 2000, which is both the foundation and boundary of our cooperation for the Gospel.

It’s no secret that our beloved Southern Baptist Convention is in the midst of fighting for its doctrinal soul. This isn’t the first time, and it won’t be the last, so don’t worry, this isn’t a doomsday letter. Nevertheless, we are facing, as each generation does, the challenge of bringing God’s word to bear on our world in our time or succumbing to the Spirit of the Age.

Will we be a clarifying light in the midst of our dark and confused generation by championing God’s good design for men and women, especially in the church? Or will we let that same worldly confusion and fear of offending secular sensibilities dim (or God forbid, smother) our biblical witness? Sadly, a posture of confusion and compromised “peacekeeping” (as opposed to beatific and grounded-in-truth peacemaking) seems to be carrying the day at our national meetings. Unfortunately, that has set the tone for many state conventions and local associations to follow suit.

But this need not be the case with our association.

I believe that the vast majority of us know what the Bible says a pastor is and does. The BF&M 2000 states it plainly: “While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor/elder/overseer is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.”

The question isn’t “Who is a pastor?” The Bible and the BF&M make that clear: Only a biblically-qualified man. The question is whether we, as a local association, will stand up in the midst of a watching world and say it with our chest? Will we defend the truth, even if the SBC at the national level will not?

I believe the answer to that is “we must.” If God’s standards are our standards, then we must align our actions with our convictions.

The Stakes in North Central Florida

As many of you know, we currently have multiple churches in our association with women who are titled and/or functioning as pastors, elders, or overseers. At Thursday night’s “Semi-Annual Meeting” of the North Central Florida Baptist Association, motions to withdraw our fellowship from three of them will be brought to the floor.

Brothers, even if the SBC’s Credentials Committee won’t act, we must. Delayed obedience is no real obedience at all. We do not need to wait for Nashville to do the right thing before we do so in Gainesville. I join our duly-elected SBC President, Clint Pressley, in echoing his sentiments: while I also do not relish that we must litigate the matter of churches with female pastors in our association, I am thankful that our process allows the messengers to decide.

And the process does allow us to decide tomorrow night here in the North Central Florida Baptist Association. We must all join together, in unity of conviction and purpose, and vote to remove the following churches from our association for their documented and indisputable embrace of egalitarianism.

First Baptist Church of Gainesville

Ray Johnson began serving as Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church, Gainesville, on January 1st, 2024. In his first month there, he held a Sunday morning ordination service for Brenda Cohen, their “Missions and Discipleship Pastor.”

However, this is not a recent phenomenon or a change in their doctrine, and FBCG wants to make sure you know that. They go out of their way on their “About Us” page to state that “First Baptist Church has had 23 senior pastors, their tenures lasting from 10 days to over 26 years. Our ministers have had varied educational backgrounds. While none of our senior pastors have been female, the church has ordained female ministers since 1986.”

Will this year mark the 40th anniversary of our association’s implicit affirmation of their doctrine, or almost half a century later, will we grow a biblical backbone and admonish them to walk in God’s truth? Will we do the right thing and plainly state that they are no longer in friendly cooperation with our association because, as the record shows, they are not? We did not force them to defy the BF&M and ordain women “pastors.” But we must do the right thing and lovingly remove them from our association.

Walk By Faith Missionary Baptist Church

Walk by Faith MBC allows women to preach sermons in Sunday morning church services. This clearly violates 1 Timothy 2:12-15. And it also violates the spirit of the BF&M 2000, because while they don’t give their “First Lady” the title of “pastor/elder/overseer” she clearly performs the function of pastor in their congregation when she assumes the pulpit.

Additionally, our Executive Committee rented a building (which was donated to our association) to WBFMBC to host their worship services. Our moderator has previously stated on the record that the property is currently under contract for sale because, even while WBFMBC was renting the property, the association was still losing money on it. That is relevant because it means that if you have given faithfully to your church and your church has given faithfully to our association, you and your church were subsidizing this practice.

Greater Faith Baptist Fellowship

Greater Faith Baptist Fellowship has had multiple female elders and demonstrates that it understands “elder” and “pastor” to be equivalent terms for the same office.

In September of 2023, the church posted on its Facebook page the celebration of “Elder” Frederica Linden’s “certificate of ordination.” While credible reports indicate that “Elder” Linden has left Greater Faith, they have another female elder, their First Lady, Cheryl Dixon, who they honour as part of the “clergy” at their church.

Furthermore, James Dixon has served on the Executive and Nominating Committees of our association for years.

A Call to Action in Florida for Such a Time as This

As a college football fan (Go Gators!) I’m a bit of a “homer.” Similarly, I believe the Florida Baptist Convention is the best state convention in the SBC, leading it and setting an example in many ways. I see no reason why our local association can’t likewise set an example for our state convention and the rest of the SBC for how to handle churches ensnared by egalitarianism that is demonstrably outside of the boundaries of our statement of faith and friendly cooperation.

Just because there is confusion in the broader SBC doesn’t mean that our association can’t be a shining beacon of biblical clarity, Baptist fidelity, and convictional courage at the local level. In fact, the Florida Baptist Convention expects it of us: “The State Convention endorses the historic and traditional role of the Baptist association serving as the theological guardian of Southern Baptist theology, faith, practice and polity of Southern Baptist churches cooperating with the Florida Baptist State Convention.”

I pray to God that He would make us faithful guardians of the good deposit entrusted to us.

Join me, brothers and sisters across the SBC, in praying for courage and fidelity for those who will stand on and stand up for God’s good design revealed in God’s word this Thursday night in Gainesville, Florida. Pray for understanding and receptiveness for those in this meeting who may be hearing this for the first time. Most of all, pray for true unity (Romans 15:4-5) and true peace (Jeremiah 6:14), and only the division which is needful for recognising that which is genuine (1 Corinthians 11:19).

Join me, fellow members (and hopefully messengers) of the North Central Florida Baptist Association, in praying for the same. Join me also in speaking clearly and convictionally on God’s good design for his church and its pastors/elders/overseers.

Show up! Speak up! Vote! Let’s lead from the front, and not the back, in speaking where God speaks, standing where Scripture and our statement of faith stands, and showing the watching world that we are unapologetically Bible-believing and Bible-practicing Baptists.