Nearly two months after newspapers reported hundreds of allegations of sexual misconduct by ministers and volunteers in churches aligned with the Southern Baptist Convention, a Texas lawmaker is sponsoring legislation to make it harder for sexual predators to move from church to church without detection.
Religious refusal bill advances in Texas senate
A Southern Baptist lawmaker’s bill to allow professionals licensed by the state of Texas to deny services based on their religious beliefs has passed a committee vote and is headed toward the full state senate.
Dispensationalists delight in Trump’s Golan Heights statement
President Donald Trump on Monday reversed decades of U.S. policy, signing an executive order recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, a plateau east of the Sea of Galilee known in Bible times as the region of Bashan.
North Carolina Baptist church ordaining trans woman to gospel ministry
A Baptist church that meets on the campus of Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, plans to ordain a transgender woman to the gospel ministry this Sunday.
LifeWay Christian Stores to close nationwide in 2019
The Southern Baptist Convention-owned bookstore chain LifeWay Christian Resources will close all 170 of its brick-and-mortar stores in 2019, officials announced March 20. LifeWay Christian Resources announced in January it would close some stores in a cost-cutting move while moving…
Paul Simmons, outspoken Baptist ethicist, dead at 82
Paul D. Simmons, a Christian ethics professor who a quarter century ago became a lightning rod at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary for advocating a woman’s right to abortion, died March 17 following an illness. He was 82. Walter Shurden, a…
Tennessee clergy oppose attempts to reverse gains by sexual minorities
Faith leaders say a group of bills in the Republican-controlled state legislature “promote discrimination rather than justice and demean the worth of LGBTQ people in our state.”
Appellate court says tax break for clergy housing is constitutional
A federal appeals court on Friday gave its blessing to tax-free housing allowances for ministers of the gospel, overturning a lower court decision that found the 60-year-old benefit unconstitutional.
After health scare, American Baptist leader Lee Spitzer announces early retirement plan
Less than two years on the job and on the heels of medical leave, Lee Spitzer has announced plans to retire as general secretary of American Baptist Churches USA at the end of 2019.
Tax-exempt college admissions scam reaches into the Bible Belt
Wealthy parents caught up in a $25 million college admissions cheating scandal dubbed “Operation Varsity Blues” got a tax write-off for bribes allegedly funneled through the same type of non-profit organization that allows individuals to avoid paying taxes on money they give to their church.
Former LifeWay employee hired to lead fund raising for Baptist World Alliance
As director of advancement and Global Impact Churches, Philip Nation will cultivate donor relationships and oversee a comprehensive fund-raising program, the Falls Church, Virginia,-based BWA announced March 12.
Feds won’t enforce law limiting use of taxpayer funds by private schools
U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announced March 11 that her department will not enforce parts of a federal law governing the nation’s elementary, middle and high schools deemed unconstitutional in light of a recent Supreme Court decision regarding the separation…