Indianapolis, IN
Southern Baptists reject proposed ban on women pastors
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A measure to ban women from holding the title of pastor in Southern Baptist churches failed Wednesday despite widespread support.
The vote at the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) annual meeting, held at the Indiana Convention Center, ends for now a three-year fight that has caused some churches to leave the organization. The measure would have amended the SBC Constitution to state that only men could hold the title of pastor.
The move would have further codified existing church doctrine. The Baptist Faith and Message 2000, which outlines the SBC’s basic theological doctrines, states, “While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor/elder/overseer is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.”
SBC insiders say adoption of the amendment would not have automatically forced churches with women pastors to leave the SBC, nor would it have signified any doctrinal change.
Meeting delegates, known as messengers in SBC parlance, pointed to the ongoing debate over LGBTQ+ clergy in other denominations as evidence of the need to add the language to the SBC Constitution. Ryan Fullerton, pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky, said the measure would not prevent women from serving in other capacities such as children’s ministry.
“The culture is attacking gender on all fronts,” he said. “What better way to express our countercultural commitment to the goodness of God’s Word than to affirm God’s creation order related to the office of pastor?”
Spence Shelton, pastor of Mercy Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, was the only person to speak against the measure before debate was cut off. He said the measure was redundant due to the language already in the Baptist Faith and Message. Shelton noted the SBC had just revoked the membership of First Alexandria Baptist Church in Alexandria, Virginia, on Tuesday over the women pastors issue and kicked out two more last year.
“The question is, is the amendment necessary for our Convention to respond when churches in our Convention act in a way contrary to our doctrine?” he said. “We showed last year we have an effective mechanism.”
The amendment passed a preliminary vote at last year’s SBC annual meeting. It needed a final, two-thirds vote in order to be ratified. On Wednesday, 61% of the meeting messengers voted in favor of it, falling short of the threshold.
Some churches already have left the SBC over the amendment and what it represents. May Memorial Baptist Church in Powhatan, Va. quit a year ago rather than remove a woman from the position of associate pastor. Michael Edwards, the senior pastor, told News 8 that Scripture isn’t nearly as clear on the question of female pastors as SBC leaders are making it out to be. He said even though the amendment failed, he does not plan to rejoin the SBC.
“Who wants to be at the table with people who don’t want you there? I don’t,” he said.
Southern Baptist churches are independent. A church can be removed from what is termed “friendly cooperation” with the Southern Baptist Convention by a vote of messengers at the SBC annual meeting. This has little direct effect on a church, but it does prevent the church from accessing SBC programs such as education assistance at Southern Baptist seminaries.
Edwards said he expects someone will bring the measure back at a subsequent annual meeting. SBC staff said the amendment process would have to start over if someone wanted to do so. The earliest anyone could propose one would be at the 2025 annual meeting in Dallas and the earliest SBC messengers could hold a final vote would be at the 2027 annual meeting.
See the truck in the White River where officials performed a water rescue
The Indianapolis Fire Department was called to the river when a man swam out to the pickup, prompting an emergency water rescue.
Karen Rutledge was walking her dogs along the shore of the White River just before 3 p.m. on June 24 when she saw a man standing in the bed of a pickup stranded in the middle of the river.
She had received word of a potential drowning on the river from a public safety app and went to check it out, she said.
“I saw a guy standing on the truck, and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s weird,’” she said. “And then I saw all the fire engines and everything.”
The Indianapolis Fire Department was called to the river when a man swam out to the pickup, prompting an emergency water rescue. Divers went out to the vehicle in a rescue boat, IFD Battalion Chief Candace Ashby said, and brought the man back to shore.
IFD Special Operations Command Capt. Chris Van Roo said the man told Department of Natural Resources officers he swam out to check whether anyone was in the vehicle. He is not believed to be the pickup’s owner and left the scene shortly after being brought safely to shore, both IFD and Rutledge said.
The pickup, a dark-colored Chevrolet, has been sitting in the river near West 16th Street and Waterway Boulevard — just off the bank of Belmont Beach — since Monday evening or Tuesday morning, first responders told IndyStar.
With potential incoming rain sweeping through Indianapolis this week, Ashby said, the DNR may not be able to remove the pickup from the river for several days.
“We just hope that no other [people go] to that truck,” she said.
Low-head dams along river pose dangers to those in the water
The pickup is stuck near the Emrichsville Dam on the White River at Belmont Beach. More than two years ago, the city received a $750,000 federal grant to remove the low-head dam as part of a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service effort to improve fish passage and safe recreational use of the river.
The Department of Public Works did not immediately respond to IndyStar’s inquiry about the status of the project.
Low-head dams can be extremely unsafe to those out on the water. In April 2024, two kayakers – Marcus Robinson, 30, and Solomon Shirley, 22 – drowned after their boats went over the Emrichsville Dam and were found capsized. In 2021, 17-year-old Kevin Rodriguez drowned near the same dam.
“Any low-head dam is dangerous,” Van Roo said, encouraging those on the river to be aware of their surroundings.
Mia Thurow is the breaking news and criminal justice reporting intern for the Indianapolis Star. She can be reached at mthurow@gannett.com. Reporter Ryan Murphy contributed to this article.
The Indianapolis Colts features some of the best players in the NFL, and those key names will be leaned on to achieve success and finally take a step over the hump of mediocrity.
In a recent article from Zachary Pereles at CBS Sports, he highlights the 100 most important players in the NFL ahead of the 2026 campaign.
For the Colts, three players land firmly on the list, and with good reason: this trio will be critical for Indianapolis to make the playoffs to keep jobs intact and the current setup in line.
Let’s begin.
No. 27: Daniel Jones | Quarterback
“Jones was outplaying even the highest expectations early in the year before fracturing his leg and then tearing his Achilles tendon a few weeks later. Can he get back to his 2025 form?”
Daniel Jones had a completely unforeseen career resurgence with the Colts in 2025. After beating out Anthony Richardson Sr. for the starting gig, he never looked back.
Jones was tearing defenses apart for the first 10 weeks of the season, leading Indy to an 8-2 record that put the Colts at the top of the NFL and a frontrunner for a Super Bowl push.
However, his production started to dip before a fractured fibula and subsequent season-ending Achilles tear. Regardless, this was the best Jones had ever looked in seven years as an NFL QB.
Now, the pressure is on, and many critics are stacked against him. Indy’s entire season rests on his health and efficiency under center.
If Jones can get back to square one, then this offense could resume its dominant ways. However, if he gets injured or defenses catch up to him in Shane Steichen’s offense, it could spell doom for this franchise.
No. 28: Sauce Gardner | Cornerback
“The Colts, looking like real contenders, sent two first-round picks to the Jets for Gardner. Then Daniel Jones and Gardner were both injured in the same game. Gardner’s injury was only a calf strain, luckily, but the quickest path for the Colts to get back to contention has him at the top of his game as Jones recovers.”
As Pereles puts in Sauce Gardner’s entry, the Colts went all-in on pushing for a Super Bowl by sending their 2026 and 2027 first-rounders to the New York Jets to obtain the top-level cornerback.
Pairing him with Charvarius Ward, this cornerback duo looked like a lethal combination. However, not only did Ward get sidelined with continued concussions, but Gardner succumbed to a calf strain that kept him to just four games with the Colts last year.
We didn’t get to see much of Gardner in Lou Anarumo’s scheme last year, but until proven otherwise, he’s still one of the hardest cornerbacks for any pass-catcher to shake.
As long as Ward and Gardner remain healthy and play well in Anarumo’s scheme, it will help Indy’s pass-rush and give quarterbacks and receivers a difficult time operating.
Even in his four games with Indianapolis, he still locked down receivers and took away areas of the field, limiting the options for opposing quarterbacks.
Given how much the Colts had to invest to get Gardner, he needs have a big 2026 season for that massive trade with the Jets to pay off. Even if it’s just been one season, it already looks like the Jets won the trade.
It will be up to Gardner to smash that narrative, and outside of DeForest Buckner, he’s arguably the most important defensive player on Indy’s roster.
No. 69: Jonathan Taylor | Running Back
“Taylor led the NFL in rushes (323) and rushing touchdowns (18) and was fueling one of the NFL’s very best offenses before Daniel Jones tore his Achilles. He’ll be the focal point again, and perhaps even more so early on as Jones finishes off his recovery.”
A player who needs no introduction, Jonathan Taylor is the gas, engine, wheels, and vehicle of Steichen’s offense.
Taylor put on another insane performance, rivaling his incredible 2021 season, where he led the NFL in rushing yards with 1,811. To reference last year, Taylor stacked up 1,585 rushing yards, 20 all-purpose TDs, and 99 total first downs.
While Gardner might be the most important defensive player on the roster, Taylor is the most important player on the entire team, regardless of whatever side of the ball is in question.
Running backs have a short shelf life in the NFL, but so far, Taylor looks like a player who is an exception to the rule.
This is no knock on the rest of Indy’s offensive talent, but without Taylor in the backfield, it makes things far easier to predict for opposing defenses.
As long as he doesn’t hit any dropoff in production, he’ll continue to be fed the pigskin to propel this offense and set up Jones and the receiving corps for efficiency in 2026.
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July 13, 1931 – June 22, 2026
Karl E. Muszar, Jr., 94, Indianapolis, was called to his heavenly home June 22, 2026. He was born July 13, 1931, in Indianapolis to Karl E. Muszar, Sr. and Golda Lucille (Martin) Jones.
Karl was a 1949 graduate of Howe High School. He then enlisted in the U.S. Air Force where he served until 1955. Following his military service, he attended Purdue University and in 1958 earned a B.S. in Metallurgical Engineering. Karl worked for Allison Aircraft until 1975 at which time he started his own consulting business, Metallurgical Engineering of Indiana, Inc. Karl enjoyed photography and hiking in the mountains of Colorado. He served as a board member of Heritage Christian School from1971 to 2001.
In addition to his parents, Karl was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Barbara J. (Foulk) Muszar; sister, Boni Kennelly, and stepbrother, Wesley Jones.
Survivors include his daughter, Michelle (Mark) Anderson; son, Jeffrey Muszar; granddaughter, Brittany (Alex) Winfield; great-grandchildren, Krystiyan Hall, Czarina Green, Mikhail, and Odessa Winfield; and many nieces and nephews.
Family and friends will gather at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 27, 2026, at Colonial Hills Baptist Church, of which he was an active member, and where the funeral service will begin at noon.
Burial will follow in Union Chapel Cemetery. In memory of Karl, contributions may be directed to Colonial Hills Baptist Church-Missions, 8140 Union Chapel Road, Indianapolis, IN 46240. Envelopes will be available at the church.
Bussell Family Funerals is privileged to assist the family in arrangements. Condolences: bussellfamilyfunerals.com.
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