One week after Election Day 2024, I found myself in another room where I had to vote.

As a messenger to the 2024 Baptist General Convention of Texas Annual Meeting, I should vote on a motion for the BGCT to affirm the 2000 Baptist faith and message.

For those unfamiliar with the nuances of the different Baptist groups in Texas, the Baptist General Convention of Texas is one of the few Baptist conventions in the state that has refrained from adopting the Baptist faith and message of 2000 when They were first introduced by the Southern Baptist Convention.

Pierre Meredith

Among many others, one of the reasons BGCT did not adopt the revised statement, a line was added in the 2000 version: “Although both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men qualified by the Scriptures. »

Contrary to the 2000 statement, the BGCT maintained that how women serve in ministry is a matter of local church autonomy rather than a matter of doctrinal alignment necessary for cooperation.

So when it came time to debate the motion to confirm this statement, I couldn’t have been the only one to notice that all the people standing and lining up to speak for and against the motion were men .

While men and women would be affected, the lives of women called by God to serve among Texas Baptists would be most affected if the statement were confirmed. Yet no woman stood up to speak.

The men who opposed the 2000 affirmation of the Baptist faith and message spoke eloquently and persuasively, and I am deeply grateful for the way in which the women’s appeals were specifically affirmed.

But after one of the male speakers on the other side started making fun of women, our callings, and our ability to share the gospel of Jesus Christ, I decided to get up and get in line for the microphone so that women are represented at least visually.

Fortunately, the motion was not adopted and the declaration was not adopted. But the fact that women felt like their voices would not be valued or that they could not speak out safely is significant.

After the work session concluded, a special panel was planned to represent different perspectives on women in ministry within the BGCT. The room was crowded.

Seven people were on stage for this special event: six men and only one woman. A few male panelists expressed affirmation and support, while the other male panelists presented painfully limited perspectives to women. In the midst of this inhospitable environment, the only panelist on stage represented women in ministry with boldness, thoughtfulness, and generosity of spirit toward her fellow panelists.

“It was striking that only one woman was invited to participate in a panel whose topic was women.”

Like the absence of women at the microphones of a critical debate, it is striking that only one woman was invited to participate in a panel whose subject was women.

I will be among the first to loudly proclaim that we need to hear men’s perspectives on how women serve in ministry, but we also need to hear from at least as many women as men on this topic.

Unity and continued cooperation were celebrated by several male panelists as the most desirable outcome of the discussion. But it is much easier to talk about unity on this issue as male pastors and teachers.

If unity comes at the expense of women continuing to be devalued, diminished, disrespected and rejected does not resemble the evangelical unity embodied by Jesus. But it is difficult to know the cost of unity when the voices of those who must sacrifice the most are not heard.

A week ago, on Election Day, I put on my “Listen to the Women” t-shirt as I headed to the polling station closest to my house. After voting, I placed my “I Voted” sticker on my shirt, took a photo, and posted it on social media with the following caption:

I feel like this shirt sums up a lot about 2024 for me.
When women say they have been called by God to be ministers of the gospel, listen to the women.
When women preach the Gospel, listen to the women.
When women say they have been sexually assaulted (even if they are accusing someone who has enormous power or influence), listen to them.
When women say they are victims of harassment or discrimination in the Church or elsewhere, listen to them.
When decisions are made about women or discussions take place about women’s rights or what women need, listen to women.
When women say they should be able to vote freely, secretly and independently, listen to women.
When women say they fear for their lives because they no longer have access to reproductive health care, listen to them.
In the documentary Midwives of a movement Lynda Weaver-Williams says: “The presence of women’s stories and lives will change the world. »
Let’s listen to women and change the world.

A week later, It’s still my theme song.

At times like these, my mind keeps returning to the resurrection stories in the Gospels. As the women discovered the empty tomb, divine messengers (Matthew 28:7; Mark 16:7) or Jesus himself (John 20:17) ordered the women to go and announce the news of the resurrection.

Where would we be if the other disciples of Jesus had not listened to the women when they told us this news?

But they listened.

When Jesus’ disciples listened to the women, on this first Easter morning, they were able to receive the hope of the resurrection of Jesus and know that the living Christ would continue to redeem the world through them.

When they listened to women, it changed the world.

It’s not too late. When we listen to women, we can change the world too.

Pierre Meredith is executive director of Baptist Women in Ministry. She lives in Waco, Texas.