Principle of church autonomy portrayed as inconsistently applied and therefore undermined
The article highlights a perceived contradiction: the SBC invoked church autonomy to resist creating a sexual predator database but now uses centralized authority to disfellowship churches over female pastors. This framing, via Burleson’s critique, questions the legitimacy of selective enforcement of autonomy principles.
“Burleson said the SBC for years resisted calls to create a database of sexual predators within the convention, citing the denomination’s policy of allowing local congregations to remain self-governing; why, then, isn’t that autonomy in play when it comes to female pastors, he wondered?”
