Delegates at the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting have narrowly rejected a proposal to enshrine a ban on churches with women pastors in the denomination’s constitution. Opponents argued the proposal was unnecessary because the SBC already has a way of ousting such churches. The outcome still leaves the SBC with its official doctrinal statement saying the office of pastor is limited to men. Even the opponents of the ban said they favored that doctrinal statement but didn’t think it was necessary to reinforce it in the constitution. Southern Baptists also elected a new convention president and passed a nonbinding statement cautioning couples about using in vitro fertilization.