“An Indiana congregation affiliated with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship has ordained who is believed to be the first confirmed transgender pastor in the denomination’s history. Laura Bethany Buchleiter, a trans-identified individual who identifies as female, was ordained at University Baptist Church of Bloomington in a ceremony held last month. Buchleiter said, ‘I re-entered Baptist culture through Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, at a time when they were discerning their status as an open and affirming church. It was there that the call to serve the Church was revived.’ Theological conservatives such as Texas Baptist megachurch pastor Robert Jeffress, have argued that transgender ideology is inherently incompatible with Christianity. ‘It’s not that confusing,’ said Jeffress in a 2016 sermon. ‘In Matthew 19:4, God’s Words are applicable. The Bible says, God made them from the beginning male and female, not male, female and question mark. God has determined how many sexes there are–there are two, not three. Gender identity confusion should not be exploited by social activists like those in the President Barack Obama administration who want to deny the God-given distinction between the sexes. This is a rebellion against God’s plan.’”
“Baptist church ordains,” The Christian Post, June 16, 2021