Twenty years ago, a single act of speaking truth to power cost one quiet seminary librarian his job. Paul Debusman worked at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., for 35 years until his “involuntary retirement” 10 months ahead of schedule…
Religious freedom prompts Baptist professors to oppose Muslim travel ban
An organization of Baptist college and seminary professors is on record stating “concern and opposition” to President Trump’s plan to restrict travelers from predominantly Muslim nations from entering the United States. The executive committee of the National Association of Baptist Professors…
Atonement tweet sparks blood feud on social media
When it comes to social media, there is power in the blood. “Questioning penal substitutionary atonement really brings out the 30-year-old white dudes in my feed,” contemporary Christian musician Michael Gungor commented during a Twitter storm he started Feb. 25…
Canadian Christians divide over Franklin Graham
Canadian Baptists joined other Christian leaders in an open letter criticizing evangelist Franklin Graham’s upcoming visit to Vancouver, British Columbia, released Feb. 24. Clergy from churches representing more than 60 percent of the Christians in the metro area said they…
Can Southern Baptist seminaries maintain gender restriction for pastors while encouraging women theological scholars? One school is trying.
A decade after Southern Baptist Convention seminaries were adding academic programs in homemaking to advance the denomination’s new emphasis on traditional gender and family roles in the church and home, at least one is creating opportunities for female students to…
As some key congregations threaten to defund SBC, leaders look for solutions
Leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention are taking seriously threats to withhold funds by churches dissatisfied with recent positions on public policy taken by some of the convention’s agencies. During its board leadership meeting Feb. 20-21, the SBC Executive Committee…
Warning of ‘seeds of division and bigotry,’ 4,000 faith leaders oppose new refugee ban
Sixty Baptists are among 4,000 signers of an open letter opposing President Trump’s expected executive action barring travelers from the seven Muslim majority countries which were named in an earlier travel ban but declared unconstitutional by federal courts. A petition…
Politics, homosexuality, roil competing Baptist bodies in Texas
Separate state conventions affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention in Texas that parted ways during the SBC conservative resurgence now face challenges of their own generated by current controversies over homosexuality and President Donald Trump. The Baptist General Convention of…
Poll says 3 in 4 white evangelicals support Trump travel ban
Three in four white evangelicals support President Trump’s controversial executive order banning travelers from seven majority-Muslim countries, according to a recent poll by the Pew Research Center. The study, released Feb. 16, also found white evangelicals, who according to exit…
Supreme Court schedules case involving church-state dispute
The U.S. Supreme Court has set oral arguments in one of the year’s most anticipated cases involving religious liberty and the separation of church and state. Trinity Lutheran Church v. Pauley, set for arguments April 19, involves a Missouri church…
Southern Baptist leader apologizes for legal brief supporting mosque
The president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board has apologized for his agency’s decision to file a legal brief supporting Muslims seeking to build a New Jersey mosque. “I grieve how the amicus brief in the recent mosque…
Faith leaders support death-row inmate’s religious discrimination claim
More than 500 faith leaders across the country have endorsed a statement calling for a new trial for a Texas death row inmate claiming religious discrimination in the selection of his jury. National faith leaders including Tony Campolo and Shane…