NEW ORLEANS (BP) — Saddleback Church, the SBC presidential election, sexual abuse and financial disclosures by Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary were among the topics discussed by this year’s Baptist 21 panel June 13 during the SBC Annual Meeting.

Panelists in the lunchtime discussion at The Sugar Mill in New Orleans included Jarrett Stephens, pastor of Champion Forest Baptist Church in Houston; Juan Sanchez, pastor of High Pointe Baptist Church in Austin, Texas; former SBC president J.D. Greear, pastor of The Summit Church in Raleigh, N.C.; Danny Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C.; and Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. The discussion was moderated by Nate Akin of Baptist21.

A church’s cooperation with the SBC, panelists agreed, should include the belief that the pastorate is limited to men.

Sanchez said Scripture’s teaching on the gender of pastors is a secondary issue that does not affect salvation. Still, it is an important issue because it tends to indicate a church’s view on the authority of Scripture.

The Bible “is pretty clear throughout” that only men should serve as pastors, Sanchez said. “If we begin to fudge around those corners … of that biblical authority issue, then we’ll open the door for us to fudge on other issues as well.”

Danny Akin said he would vote to sustain the disfellowshipping of Saddleback for installing and affirming female pastors. While the gender of pastors is a second-tier issue, he said, agreement on second-tier issues is necessary for churches to work cooperatively within a denomination.

“We didn’t leave Saddleback,” Akin said. “Saddleback has left us.”

Greear agreed with fellow panelists that the pastorate is limited to qualified men. He also cautioned against discouraging women by discussing the issue with the wrong tone.

“The discouragement of our sisters in Christ” would be “tragic,” Greear said. Southern Baptists must “recognize the role, the dignity, the calling and the gifting they have in the body of Christ.”

Turning to the SBC presidential election, Danny Akin, Mohler and Stephens all said they supported Bart Barber over his opponent, Georgia pastor Mike Stone. Nate Akin said Barber served well during his first term and did not give Southern Baptists any reason to deny him a customary second term. Mohler agreed, arguing that granting the SBC president a second term is an important “institutional norm” that should be preserved. Both seminary presidents, however, said they and the institutions they lead would be glad to work with whomever messengers elected.

Stephens, who nominated Barber for his second term, said Barber’s work to prevent sexual abuse was an important reason to reelect him.

Stone “has said he wants to abolish the [Abuse Reform Implementation] Task Force, and I just think we have so much work to do, so much good to do that I am going to throw my hat in for Bart,” said Stephens, a member of the task force.

Stephens also urged support of a motion to grant the task force an additional year to establish a MinistryCheck website to list individuals credibly accused of sexual abuse.

“It’s way complicated. That’s why we haven’t rolled it out yet, and that’s why we need more time,” Stephens said.

Regarding Southwestern Seminary and recent disclosures of questionable spending by former president Adam Greenway, panelists said the episode highlights the need for financial accountability among pastors, churches and SBC entities. Mohler said Southern’s board of trustees includes several local trustees who exercise ongoing oversight on financial matters.

“It isn’t enough to have a normal trustee process and a normal trustee finance committee in a world in which financial problems—even just in terms of market realities—can happen in a matter of days and weeks,” Mohler said. “You definitely need far more trustee involvement.”

Danny Akin recounted his efforts at Southeastern to maintain financial integrity by utilizing auditors and attorneys when needed and implementing their recommendations.

“I want [trustees] to be fully aware of everything we do,” Akin said. “I don’t want them to ever be surprised.”

On all issues prompting debate in the SBC, Sanchez said, more discussion is needed—as occurred on the panel—and less verbal sparring.

“We need to roll back the vitriolic language,” he said, “and sit down in rooms and get together with brothers and sisters” and “try to understand one another.”

(EDITOR’S NOTE – David Roach is a writer in Mobile, Ala.)