The Southern Baptist Convention expelled Saddleback Church Tuesday for having a female pastor.

The expulsion of the convention’s second-largest church was due to having a “female teaching pastor functioning in the office of pastor,” according to a vote by the convention’s Executive Committee, the AP reported. The comments are a reference to Stacie Wood, wife of current Saddleback lead pastor, Andy Wood.

The Executive Committee’s motion said Saddleback “has a faith and practice that does not closely identify with the Convention’s adopted statement of faith, as demonstrated by the church having a female teaching pastor functioning in the office of pastor.”

Saddleback has the right to appeal the decision at the Southern Baptists’ next annual meeting scheduled for New Orleans in June.

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The controversy over women pastors at Los Angeles-based Saddleback began two years ago when founding pastor Rick Warren ordained three women. At its 2022 annual meeting, the SBC took up the issue but ultimately made no decision on Saddleback.

Warren, a best-selling author, retired last year after more than 42 years at Saddleback. Wood and his wife, Stacie, previously of Echo Church in San Jose, California took over in leading the church which has a weekly audience of some 40,000 people.

Founded by Warren in 1980, the church hosted Barack Obama and John McCain when they ran for president in 2008, and in 2009 Warren gave the invocation at Obama’s inauguration.