<< Back 8/21/02 Cullowhee Baptist leaves TBA over dispute about woman pastor By Scott McLeod Instead of fighting other churches and pastors over whether women should serve as pastors, Cullowhee Baptist Church members voted to withdraw from the Tuckaseigee Baptist Association. The vote ends a dispute that arose after some ministers in the association cited problems with having Tonya Vickery as a co-minister at the church. Tonya and Jeffrey Vickery have served as co-pastors of the church since January, but in March the TBA’s Pastor’s Conference sent a letter to its credentials committee urging it to take action against Cullowhee Baptist. In April the committee voted 3-2 that Cullowhee’s delegates should not be seated at the October annual meeting of the association. The TBA cited the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message, which cites a role for women in the church but reserves the role of pastor to men. The issue of women as pastors has become a divisive one among Southern Baptists in recent years. More than two years ago the TBA adopted a report that affirmed the value of local church autonomy and the reality of differing views relative to scripture while acknowledging that such approval did not imply agreement with all practices, according a March article in the Biblical Recorder, a magazine of the Southern Baptist Association. In that article, it said the TBA adopted the report after former director of missions John Reid came under fire for participating in a deacon ordination service that included women. Claude Conard, interim director of missions for the association, told the Recorder that the association’s bylaws take precedence over the report. The bylaws state that “The Association shall be composed of regularly constituted Baptist churches in cooperating fellowship with the Southern Baptists Conventions ....” Cullowhee, though, wrote to the Credential Committee in February that it did not agree with its assessment. The letter stated that TBA’s reconciliation statement “clearly states that the local church has autonomy in matters of doctrine and practice.” That letter also said that the 2000 Faith and Message has been placed as the “doctrinal definition of a church in fellowship with the TBA” without any official action. On July 8, though, the TBA’s executive committee voted 40-15 to affirm the Faith and Message as its doctrine. That led to the Aug. 4 vote by Cullowhee Baptist to withdraw. For the Vickerys, though, it was important not to drag out a fight that involved interpretation of scripture. “I don’t want to get into a battle with people who interpret scripture in a different way,” Tonya Vickery said in an interview earlier this summer. Jeff Vickery said the problems with having a woman as pastor have come from outside Cullowhee Baptist. “The Tuckaseigee Baptist Association did not call us. We value their friendship and our relationship, but it is the congregation here at Cullowhee that called us,” said Jeff. Tonya said her call to ministry from God at first was almost unbelievable to her. “If God calls, who are we to question him,” said Tonya. After attending seminary, Tonya said she thought about her calling and prayed for guidance. For two years she and Jeff weighed how others might react to their decision to be married and serve as co-pastors. “We both felt a strong calling that this was our road to God,” said Tonya.