Reverse Culture Shock: A return visit with the Southern Baptist Convention

A day after returning from vacation, I drove to Indianapolis to share an event with author and advocate Christa Brown, then cover SBC’s annual meeting

Sarah Stankorb
5 min readJun 17, 2024
Men question Baptist Women in Ministry representatives outside the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting.

In the past month, I’ve had the joy of traveling with my family and experiencing the marvel of being with my children as they saw England and France through their fresh eyes. It was baguettes and museums, gardens and endless walks (110 miles by foot, according to my Fitbit). We arrived home jetlagged and full-hearted, and then I promptly took off in my car for the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting in Indianapolis.

Talk about reverse culture shock.

I’d spent two weeks disconnected from talk of the November presidential race. I watched coverage of Donald Trump’s conviction in French (a language I do not speak). It was blissful. Then I rushed off for SBC, where the danger of ‘transgender ideology’ was frequently flagged, where I got to see former Vice President Mike Pence receive a standing ovation from a room full of conservatives for not trying to overturn the 2020 election — a hope-restoring moment. Like many watchers, I was surprised when the Law Amendment, which would ban any churches with women pastors from…

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Sarah Stankorb

Sarah Stankorb, author of Disobedient Women, has published with The Washington Post, Marie Claire, and many others. @sarahstankorb www.sarahstankorb.com