Magazine highlighting women pastors causes stir

LifeWay, a Southern Baptist Convention entity, has pulled copies of the magazine’s latest issue because of its cover story: Women pastors.

Customers can, however,  purchase the magazine at LifeWay stores, but they have to ask for it because the magazine has been placed behind the counter. 

“We removed the September/October issue of Gospel Today magazine from the shelves of LifeWay Christian Stores because the cover story, featuring female senior pastors, clearly advocated a position contrary to our denomination’s statement of faith, the Baptist Faith & Message,” Chris Turner, Life Way’s media relations manager, said in a prepared statement on Wednesday .

“ We certainly understand that some customers have different positions on the issues and do not agree with every point. We also recognize that some customers like to read a variety of views on subjects such as these to stay engaged in the culture. For that reason, we have continued to make the magazine available upon request to accommodate those needs as best we could.”

For its part, Gospel Today’s leaders, on the magazine’s Web site, described the cover story as “timely” in a “year of unprecedented momentum among African American and female leadership,” citing Barack Obama becoming the first black to receive the presidential nomination of a major political party and Gov. Sarah Palin being declared “a front-running vice presidential candidate.”