[ATBW] Episode 3 - Loopholes

The Bible For Normal People

The Bible for Normal People

Religion & Spirituality, Christianity

4.7 • 3.3K Ratings

🗓️ 27 March 2025

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In Episode 3 of All the Buried Women, co-hosts Beth Allison Barr and Savannah Locke explore the "loopholes" that allowed women to serve in ministry within the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), despite the formal prohibition against female ordination. These loopholes included roles like professors, missionaries, and pastor’s wives, which allowed women to take on leadership and preaching roles in practice, even though they were not officially recognized as ordained ministers. We reached out to the SBC, Paige Patterson, Darryl Gilyard, Tommy Gilmore, and the Council for National Policy for comment, and did not hear back. All the Buried Women is presented by The Bible for Normal People. Credits: Hosts: Beth Allison Barr and Savannah Locke Producer: Savannah Locke Writing and Editing: Beth Allison Barr and Savannah Locke Sound Editing and Music: Savannah Locke and Todd Locke Introduction and Closing Song: Jaded by Savannah Locke Special Thanks (in order of appearance): Rosalie Beck, Steve Bezner, and Pamela Durso Partner Organization: The Bible for Normal People Additional Thanks: Andy Clark, Systems Administrator within the University Libraries at Baylor University; Erin Smith, Marketing Manager at Baker Publishing Group; Jordan Corona; Dr. Taffey Hall, Director of the Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives; Brittany Prescott, Podcast Producer for The Bible for Normal People; Adam McCullough, Archivist of Canadian Baptist Archives at McMaster Divinity College; Gordon Heath, Director of Canadian Baptist Archives at McMaster Divinity College; Rev. Leanne Friesen, Executive Minister of Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec (CBOQ) and CBOQ executive board; and Audrey and Alex from Lawyers for Reporters. Social Media Links: Follow us on Instagram: @alltheburiedwomen @bethallisonbarr @savannah_locke @thebiblefornormalpeople Subscribe to Beth's Substack: https://bethallisonbarr.substack.com Subscribe to Savannah's Substack: https://savannahlocke.substack.com Promo Code: Use code PODCAST40 to get 40% off Becoming the Pastor’s Wife until April 30th through Baker Publishing Group's Website: http://bakerpublishinggroup.com/books/becoming-the-pastor-s-wife/414910 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	We've covered a lot of ground in two episodes, so let's recap where we've been.
0:05.0	In 1964, Addy Davis became the first woman to be ordained in the SBC,
0:11.0	signaling the convention's potential openness to women's ordination.
0:16.0	Three years later, in 1967, 37-year-old judge Paul Pressler dropped by Paige Patterson's apartment
0:24.7	while Paige was a student at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. They went to Cafe
0:31.0	Dumond and talked until three in the morning, bonding over a shared concern for the liberal
0:37.3	drift of the SBC and planting seeds for
0:40.8	what would ultimately become the conservative resurgence. As multiple lawsuits helped bring to light,
0:47.5	Paul Pressler allegedly began sexually abusing boys and young men behind closed doors around that
0:52.9	time in the late 1970s.
0:55.0	Paige Patterson gained momentum as an SBC leader and is alleged to have covered up the abuses
1:01.0	committed by his mentee, Darryl Gileard, and allegedly covered up a rape while he was president
1:06.6	at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. After he was fired from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary when those allegations came to light,
1:14.8	he was then accused of misappropriating, quote, confidential donor information,
1:19.2	redirecting funds from the Harold E. Riley Foundation, and stealing seminary property.
1:24.7	All the while, Patterson and Pressler were controlling the direction of the largest
1:28.9	Protestant denomination in North America under the guise of morality and biblical orthodoxy,
1:35.0	which specifically targeted women in ministry. In 1984, five years into the conservative
1:41.1	resurgence, the SBC passed a resolution on ordination and the role of women in ministry.
1:47.0	The resolution emphasized that women belonged under male headship, that women should not assume authority over men,
1:54.0	and because of creation order and the Edenic fall, women were barred from the pastoral office.
2:00.0	Regardless, women like Kathy Hoppe
	...

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