Changes

The SBC also generally holds that a divorced person, or one who marries a divorced person, is ineligible to be a pastor or deacon (or elder, in those cases where an SBC congregation has them), even if the divorce was on permissible grounds or it took place before the divorced person became a Christian, but this is not specified in the BF&M.

The SBC also generally holds that a divorced person, or one who marries a divorced person, is ineligible to be a pastor or deacon (or elder, in those cases where an SBC congregation has them), even if the divorce was on permissible grounds or it took place before the divorced person became a Christian, but this is not specified in the BF&M.

As such, each SBC church (being autonomous and independent) can set its own policies (even independent of the BF&M) regarding this issue.  Generally, though, they hold to a stricter view on the topic, usually limiting it to specified cases (usually abandonment, abuse, or adultery) and not permitting divorced persons to serve as pastors, elders or deacons in any event.

As such, each SBC church (being autonomous and independent) can set its own policies (even independent of the BF&M) regarding these issue.  Generally, though, they hold to a stricter view on the topic, usually limiting divorce to specified cases (usually abandonment, abuse, or adultery), remarriage only to those cases (and sometimes allowing it if the divorce took place before salvation) and not permitting divorced persons to serve as pastors, elders or deacons in any event.

The most recent resolution on the topic, passed at the 2010 Annual Meeting, expressed concern about the alarming divorce rate within SBC congregations, going so far as to state that "[e]ven the most expansive view of the biblical exceptions allowing for divorce and remarriage would rule out many, if not most, of the divorces in our churches" and that the expansion of the rate "has not come through a shift in theological conviction about scriptural teaching on divorce but rather through cultural accommodation".<ref>https://www.sbc.net/resource-library/resolutions/on-the-scandal-of-southern-baptist-divorce/</ref>

The most recent resolution on the topic, passed at the 2010 Annual Meeting, expressed concern about the alarming divorce rate within SBC congregations, going so far as to state that "[e]ven the most expansive view of the biblical exceptions allowing for divorce and remarriage would rule out many, if not most, of the divorces in our churches" and that the expansion of the rate "has not come through a shift in theological conviction about scriptural teaching on divorce but rather through cultural accommodation".<ref>https://www.sbc.net/resource-library/resolutions/on-the-scandal-of-southern-baptist-divorce/</ref>