Southern Baptist pastor Robert Jeffress defended controversial comments retweeted by President Trump linking impeachment proceedings in Congress to the prospect of civil war but clarified that he was not talking about a literal shooting war.
Southern Baptist civility study examines why we don’t get along
Read a newspaper, put down the smart phone and get to know your neighbors. These are among suggested remedies for a “caustic, toxic, ignorant and corrosive” American public square in a study released last week by the public policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Pro-Trump pastor Robert Jeffress uses Bible to debunk science of climate change
A Southern Baptist pastor who supports President Donald Trump says 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg should worry less about science and more about the Bible.
Ahead of conference on sexual abuse, SBC promotes author whose church is being sued over its handling of a minister’s alleged molestation of an 11-year-old girl
Two weeks ahead of a national conference on caring well for the abused, the Southern Baptist Convention promoted a book by a high-profile pastor accused of mishandling abuse, to the consternation of survivor advocates.
Arkansas Supreme Court, Attorney General, continue to tangle with pastor/judge
The Arkansas Supreme Court won’t restore the authority of a circuit judge who also serves as pastor of a Baptist church to decide death-penalty cases, and the state’s top lawyer wants him barred from any civil cases involving her office in separate but intertwined controversies that began with a prayer vigil protesting capital punishment on Good Friday in 2017.
Helen Graves, wife of one seminary administrator and mother of another, dead at 105
Her great grandmother was a Cherokee who walked the Trail of Tears and she remembered women’s suffrage, but Helen Graves didn’t live long enough to see her dream of a female president. The widow of a longtime seminary dean and mother of a seminary president died Sept. 6, a few months after celebrating her 105th birthday.
Southern Baptist polity on trial in lawsuit appeal
A former Southern Baptist state convention leader claims the separation of church and state does not shield religious organizations from lawsuits over actions that would be illegal if committed by a secular business in a case before the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Once accused of racial insensitivity, Papa John’s founder gives money to black Baptists
Papa John’s founder and former CEO John Schnatter, who left the pizza company last year amid controversy over comments criticized as racially insensitive, recently donated $1 million to historically black Simmons College of Kentucky.
Under pressure, Baptist church drops plans for anti-Muslim program on 9/11
A Baptist church in Michigan has dropped plans to host a controversial 9/11 anniversary event after two members of Congress called it out for spreading Islamophobia.