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A week or so ago I received an email from a prospective visitor asking some questions about our church. He was curious about our then-Pastor-to-Students, Amy Fritts. He correctly assumed that she is a woman and wanted to know if she was ordained.
I responded: “Thank you for your questions regarding Ball Camp Baptist Church. We would love to have you visit with us and I am happy to answer your questions.
“Amy Fritz is an ordained woman. However, this past Sunday was her last one with us. The Fritts’s are moving to Texas.
“With regard to your issue with doctrinal integrity, the SBC does not decide what our church believes. We believe that each Baptist church is autonomous. We also believe that it is the responsibility of each church member, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to seek the Lord’s leadership in discerning God’s direction for the congregation. At Ball Camp, we believe that God equips and calls men and women to service in the church, and we try always to honor what God is doing
in the lives of God’s children.
“Ultimately, the Bible is our authority in all matters of faith and practice. Here are some biblical examples of how God used women in a way similar to how we felt God used Reverend Fritts while she was at Ball Camp Baptist Church.
“Luke 8:1-3 tells us that there were women with Jesus and the twelve as He went about proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God.
“In all of the Gospels, we see that Jesus appeared first to women after his resurrection and that Mary Magdalene proclaimed the first Easter message ‘I have seen the Lord.’
“Gal 3:28 teaches us that in Christ there is neither male nor female.
“Romans 16 names two women, Phoebe and Priscilla, who were working with Paul in some way to build the church. Junia and her husband, Andronicus, are mentioned in verse 7 as being prominent among the apostles.
“In I Corinthians 1:11, Paul acts on a report from a group of people within the church led by a woman named Chloe.
“While we respect your convictions and certainly affirm your efforts to provide spiritual leadership in your home, we have some different ideas about how God is able to use women in the life of the church. I should also point out that
both men and women serve as deacons in Ball Camp Baptist Church. Nonetheless, our doors are open to all who seek the grace and mercy of God.
Joy and Peace,
Ed”
I am so glad that Ball Camp is a place where everybody is able to do the Lord's work. This week some of us did it in Knoxville, some of us did it in Louisiana, some of us did it in North Africa; but we all did it. Some of us were men and some of us were women, some of us were girls and some of us were boys, but we all did it. Thank God that He is bigger than our culturally-bound notions of what is and is not acceptable for certain people to do on the Lord's behalf.
Joy and Peace,
Ed
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