Ga. church ousted from Southern Baptist Convention for having female pastor, despite no affiliation

GRIFFIN. Ga — The Southern Baptist Convention is forcing out several churches around the country whose pastors are women.

New Faith Mission Ministry in Griffin was among the congregations ousted by the executive committee.

Channel 2′s Elizabeth Rawlins was live in Griffin at the New Faith Mission Ministry on Wednesday, where the pastor said it was all a mistake.

Pastor Gwennette Watson says she was never expecting to see her name and the Griffin church she leads as one of several congregations around the country that is being kicked out of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Nowhere on the church’s sign does it say it is a baptist congregation.

Watson said they are a non-denominational Congregation and have never been affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention.

“When I got the news, I was in shock,” Watson said.

Watson told Channel 2 that the church has been non-denominational since 1999.

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“We are not affiliated with any organization. Been self-sufficient since 1999,” she said.

However, New Faith Mission Ministry Church was among several churches that were ousted this week for allegedly going against the church’s rules by allowing a female pastor

It’s unclear why exactly the non-denominational church was named, but Watson said they can’t disaffiliate from something that they never were affiliated with from the beginning.

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So while this ruling will not impact their congregation, she feels for those churches that will be impacted

“As a woman, it’s very insulting, we can lead in other areas, but we can’t lead the church? " Warson said.

We have reached out to the SBC to find out why the church was named and if it was a mistake. We are still waiting to hear back .

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