美国国家公共电台 NPR--At their annual meeting, Southern Baptists crack down on women in ministry

At their annual meeting, Southern Baptists crack down on women in ministry¹

Transcript²

Southern Baptists have upheld the expulsion of two churches that have female pastors⁴. They also voted to amend⁵ their constitution to further restrict women in ministry.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Southern Baptists are cracking down on women in ministry. They did so this week at their annual meeting by voting to finalize⁶ the expulsion of two congregations with women pastors and moving to change their own constitution. NPR religion correspondent Jason DeRose reports.

JASON DEROSE, BYLINE⁷: Earlier this year, Southern Baptist leaders expelled Fern Creek⁸ Baptist Church in Kentucky, where a woman has led the congregation for decades, and well-known Saddleback, the megachurch in Southern California, where a woman serves as campus pastor³. Those expulsions were based on a document passed in the year 2000 called the Baptist Faith and Message, which restricts the office of pastor to men. Meeting in New Orleans, nearly 13,000 delegates called messengers, predominantly white men, heard appeals from the expelled churches, but those appeals failed. Then they turned to an amendment⁹ to the Southern Baptist Constitution itself that says the church affirms, appoints or employs only men as any kind of pastor or elder. Sarah Clatworthy of Lifepoint Baptist Church in San Angelo, Texas, was among the smaller group of women messengers. She spoke¹⁰ in favor of the amendment.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

SARAH CLATWORTHY: We must stand our ground and keep the door shut to feminism and liberalism. In a culture that is increasingly unclear about the roles of men and women or what a man or woman is, we have to be crystal clear.

DEROSE: Clatworthy said that her church believes women shouldn't teach men or hold religious authority over them.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

CLATWORTHY: We should leave no room for our daughters and granddaughters in the generations ahead to have confusion on where the SBCC stands. Let them know that Scripture¹¹ is our authority and not the culture.

DEROSE: But that belief isn't uniform among all Southern Baptists. Bob Bender, pastor emeritus¹² of Cross Fellowship Church in Colorado Springs, Colo., defended the right of women to serve as pastors.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

BOB BENDER: Southern Baptist brothers and sisters, I beg of you. Do not do this. All the liberals have left us. It looks like we conservatives are left to fight amongst ourselves.

DEROSE: Bender harkened back to the Southern Baptist Convention's past to underscore his point.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

BENDER: Southern Baptists have been right on a lot of things and wrong on a few. We were wrong on slavery, segregation¹³, alien immersion¹⁴ and disallowing¹⁵ biblically divorced men to become deacons. History will prove us wrong again if we adopt this motion.

DEROSE: In the end, the amendment banning women pastors passed. Next year's Southern Baptist Convention meeting will have to pass it again before it officially takes effect.

Jason DeRose, NPR News.

1 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 pastor   

n.牧师，牧人

参考例句：

• He was the son of a poor pastor.他是一个穷牧师的儿子。
• We have no pastor at present:the church is run by five deacons.我们目前没有牧师：教会的事是由五位执事管理的。

4 pastors   

n.（基督教的）牧师( pastor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Do we show respect to our pastors, missionaries, Sunday school teachers? 我们有没有尊敬牧师、宣教士，以及主日学的老师？ 来自互联网
• Should pastors or elders be paid, or serve as a volunteer? 牧师或长老需要付给酬劳，还是志愿的事奉呢？ 来自互联网

5 amend   

vt.修改，修订，改进；n.[pl.]赔罪，赔偿

参考例句：

• The teacher advised him to amend his way of living.老师劝他改变生活方式。
• You must amend your pronunciation.你必须改正你的发音。

6 finalize   

v.落实，定下来

参考例句：

• Let us finalize tonight.让我们今天晚上干完
• 。At the same time,industrial designers work with engineers to finalize components and assembly.同时，工业设计师和工程师一道来完成部件和组装部分的工作。

7 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

8 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

9 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

10 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

11 scripture   

n.经文，圣书，手稿；Scripture:(常用复数)《圣经》，《圣经》中的一段

参考例句：

• The scripture states that God did not want us to be alone.圣经指出上帝并不是想让我们独身一人生活。
• They invoked Hindu scripture to justify their position.他们援引印度教的经文为他们的立场辩护。

12 emeritus   

adj.名誉退休的

参考例句：

• "Perhaps I can introduce Mr.Lake Kirby,an emeritus professor from Washington University?"请允许我介绍华盛顿大学名誉教授莱克柯尔比先生。
• He will continue as chairman emeritus.他将会继续担任荣誉主席。

13 segregation   

n.隔离，种族隔离

参考例句：

• Many school boards found segregation a hot potato in the early 1960s.在60年代初，许多学校部门都觉得按水平分班是一个棘手的问题。
• They were tired to death of segregation and of being kicked around.他们十分厌恶种族隔离和总是被人踢来踢去。

14 immersion   

n.沉浸；专心

参考例句：

• The dirt on the bottom of the bath didn't encourage total immersion.浴缸底有污垢，不宜全身浸泡于其中。
• The wood had become swollen from prolonged immersion.因长时间浸泡，木头发胀了。

15 disallowing   

v.不承认（某事物）有效( disallow的现在分词 )；不接受；不准；驳回

参考例句：