Baptist Megachurch Makes History Electing Woman to Pulpit
Julie Pennington-Russell was voted on Sunday to become senior pastor of an Atlanta-area megachurch. The historic decision that went without dispute makes the congregation the largest church of Southern Baptist heritage to be led by a woman.
"Without a doubt, this is a major development," commented the Rev. R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and one of America's pre-eminent Evangelical leaders, in a blog post when initial reports about Pennington-Russell's near-confirmation as head of First Baptist Church of Decatur, Ga., came out.
In a closed session on Sunday after morning worship, some 500 members elected the married mother of two to lead the nearly 2,700-member church, according to The Waco Tribune-Herald. Only five hands of dissent were visible at most, said First Baptist's interim pastor, Dock Hollingsworth....
