Yarnell serves Southern Baptists on SBC Resolutions Committee

Malcolm B. Yarnell III, research professor of theology at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, served on the Resolutions Committee during the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in New Orleans, June 13-14, taking a “particular spiritual and theological interest” using his “editorial skills” in two resolutions pertaining to the legacy and responsibility of women fulfilling the Great Commission and Christ’s sole lordship over every human conscience.

“I am one of those people who thinks that resolutions matter,” said Yarnell, adding that resolutions are “non-binding on the churches” but an expression of “truth in the context” of what “different Baptists … may see occurring in the churches and in society.”

Yarnell, who earned a Master of Divinity from Southwestern Seminary in 1991, said resolutions “are a way for Baptists to engage in public ethics” and “public theology,” which is “why they garner so much attention.”

Yarnell said he recommended “major revisions” to the original draft of the resolution on the legacy and responsibility of women, which was co-edited by Kristen Ferguson, vice chair of the Resolutions Committee and director of online education and associate professor of educational leadership at Gateway Seminary in Ontario, California. The resolution, which recalled the ministry and Kingdom work of women in Scripture and Baptist life, is “explicit” in noting that “women have a calling from God to service,” he said.

“We wanted the women of the Southern Baptist Convention to know that the El Roi, the God who sees, sees you and your work and that we, your pastors, we also see your work,” Yarnell said, explaining it was “important to say to the women because so often we get caught up on what women cannot do and we want to say what women can do.”

The resolution cites examples throughout the Bible of how women served, Yarnell noted, including “everything from judging Israel to proclaiming the Word of God.” He added the wording of the resolution was “written the way it is to demonstrate from Scripture that when we speak of women having a call, when we speak of women proclaiming God’s Word, when we speak of women leading in judgment, this is not feminism. This is Scripture.”

Yarnell said he wrote the resolution on Christ’s sole lordship, which he called “a theological statement.” The resolution “goes back to an understanding that every human being is responsible before God according to their conscience,” he explained.

“This is the basis of religious liberty and liberty of conscience, which Baptists have been advocates of since their beginning,” Yarnell said, adding that the “purpose” of the resolution is “just to remind us who we are.”

Yarnell noted the resolution is “an argument for religious liberty on the basis of the sole lordship of Christ over every human conscience.”

The committee recommended a total of nine resolutions, all of which were approved by messengers. All the resolutions in their final form are available here.

Bart Barber, SBC president and pastor of First Baptist Church of Farmersville, Texas, appointed Yarnell to the Resolutions Committee. Barber, who holds Master of Divinity and Ph.D. degrees from Southwestern, was in a doctoral seminar on Baptist theologians that Yarnell co-taught with the late James Leo Garrett, Yarnell explained, adding that he and Barber “have a long relationship.”

While his time of service on the SBC Resolutions Committee was a first, Yarnell has previously served as the chairman of the Resolutions Committee of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention.

The next annual meeting of the SBC is scheduled for June 11-12, 2024, in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Photo courtesy of The Alabama Baptist/The Baptist Paper