In one of the most anticipated votes at their annual convention on Wednesday, Southern Baptist delegates voted down a measure that would have enshrined a ban on churches with women pastors in the convention's constitution.

"It failed to reach the two-thirds threshold that's required to make it an amendment," Dr. Ed Stetzer, Dean of Theology at Biola University, told CBN News.

Tuesday the SBC expelled First Baptist Church in Alexandria, VA. The church has a woman pastor over children and women but also believes women can serve as a senior pastor.

Thousands of Southern Baptists voted to oppose the use of in vitro fertilization (IVF) during a national convention on Wednesday.

Attendees at the Southern Baptist Convention voted to approve a resolution “On the Ethical Realities of Reproductive Technologies and the Dignity of the Human Embryo” Wednesday afternoon after hearing from many people about their own experiences with IVF. The vote signals opposition to the procedure among many Southern Baptists but is not an enforceable statement.

In a historic vote, the Southern Baptist Convention rejected a formal ban on women serving as pastors.

This year’s Southern Baptist Convention in Indianapolis is centering around the role of women in the church, including a vote on formally banning churches with female pastors. In an unexpected turn of events, members voted against the formal ban which would have strengthened the ability to enforce rules against female pastors.

In the weeks before the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) annual meeting, newly elected president Clint Pressley finished reading Malcom Gladwell’s book on precision bombing in World War II, Erik Larson’s bestseller set in the lead-up to the Civil War, and a history of a 19th-century mutiny on a Royal Navy vessel.

Nearly 100 people made first-time confessions for salvation and 46 people were water baptized at a Kentucky church Wednesday. 

First Baptist Church in Hodgenville concluded a four-day event where hundreds of people including elementary school-age students showed up to hear a message about Jesus.