Elevation Church leaves Southern Baptist Convention after rulings against women pastors

Elevation Church has shed its decades-long affiliation with the Southern Baptist Convention nearly two weeks after the convention upheld earlier decisions to expel churches with women pastors.

A letter from the Matthews-based church this week, sent to the convention Monday, does not directly state its reasons for leaving the band of more than 50,000 churches affiliated the convention — 58 of which are in the Charlotte-area.

It does, however, state that “our Statement of Beliefs on our website is very much in line with the Baptist Faith and Message — we have no intention of changing those core beliefs.”

Pastor Steven and Holly Furtick founded Elevation Church in 2006, and Holly occasional takes the stage to preach at the churches, according to Holly’s website.

The two live in Charlotte with their three children and lead the church’s 11 North Carolina locations, along with three in South Carolina, one in Virginia, two in Florida and two in Canada, according to its website.

Its locations drew an average of 26,000 worshippers per week in 2022, seventh most among Protestant churches and one behind Saddleback Church, according to the Outreach 100, an annual survey by Outreach magazine.

California-based Saddleback Church and Kentucky-based Fern Creek Baptist Church were both ousted from the convention for allowing women pastors — a violation of its statement of faith.

“We have no plans to make a public announcement on this decision – we have too much to do in reaching a world that needs the love of Jesus,” Elevation Church said in its letter to the convention. “Should your Credentials Committee decide to make this decision by Elevation public, we will only respond with a copy of this letter in anyone inquiring about the notification.”