From its towering white steeple and red-brick facade to its Sunday services filled with rousing gospel hymns and evangelistic sermons, First Baptist Church of Alexandria, Virginia, bears many of the classic hallmarks of a Southern Baptist church.
On a recent Sunday, its pastor for women and children, Kim Eskridge, urged members to invite friends and neighbors to an upcoming vacation Bible school — a perennial Baptist activity — to help “reach families in the community with the gospel.”
But because that pastor is a woman, First Baptist’s days in the Southern Baptist Convention may be numbered.
At the SBC’s annual meeting June 11-12 in Indianapolis, representatives will vote on whether to amend the denomination’s constitution to essentially ban churches with any women pastors — and not just in the top job. That measure received overwhelming approval in a preliminary vote last year.
Of course they are.
As a side note, how in the fuck are you supposed to feel any spiritual connection in a space like the one pictured? It looks like a goddamned Costco. I’m not religious, but I absolutely get the vibe when I’m in a proper church. This is not that.
I believe that is a convention center for their meeting.
I believe you’re correct. I’ve never been in a megachurch. I was thinking this might be one, but a convention center makes way more sense.
It’s all in the suspended chords
You underestimate the effect of feeling like you’re a part of a movement. When you sit in that room, you’re a winner.