This is such a disappointing move by the SBC. The Baptist tradition of allowing lay female preachers pre-dates the ordination of women by most other denominations, so this is a step backward.

But it's not entirely unexpected. A couple of years ago the SBC announced that its top priority was opposing abortion, and it may still be No. 1.

In my small town in Alabama, my polling place is the Baptist church, as it must be in countless other towns in the South. I wonder if it would be worthwhile for people to urge their towns to change the polling place in order to protest its treatment of women.