Neville Callam, ninth general secretary of the Baptist World Alliance and the first non-white to head the global alliance of Baptist conventions and unions founded in 1905, has announced plans to retire at the end of 2017. Policies of the organization…
Murder trial for Alabama minister pushed back to May
An Alabama judge has granted a request to give lawyers more time to prepare their defense for a former Southern Baptist minister charged with murdering his wife nearly three-and-a-half years ago. The trial against Richard Shahan, former pastor to children…
Jerry Falwell Jr. emerges as possible Trump cabinet pick
One of Donald Trump’s earliest evangelical supporters is expected to be rewarded with a role in the next administration. The News & Advance in in Lynchburg, Va., reported Nov. 17 that Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. visited Trump Tower…
Ban on Baptist author’s book short-lived
Stan Dotson didn’t mean to start an international incident when he wrote a book about his 11-month stay in Cuba, but his publisher said Nov. 18 the matter has been resolved and Cuba: A Day In the Life should be…
What happened to Texas Baptists? Moderate churches shaken by perceived shift to the right
For decades, no Baptist state convention showed stronger resolve in defending historic tenets like soul freedom and autonomy of the local church than Texas. With this week’s vote declaring churches that welcome and affirm LGBT people “out of harmonious cooperation,” some moderate and progressive Baptists are wondering openly where along the way they lost their beloved Baptist General Convention of Texas.
Anti-Trump protesters target Southern Baptist church
Anti-Trump protesters marched on a Southern Baptist megachurch whose pastor was among the president-elect’s most vocal evangelical supporters in a fourth night in the streets Saturday night. “This church right here is the mother Mecca of the hate that lives…
Two Texas churches face ouster for LGBT policies
Leaders of the Baptist General Convention of Texas have put two churches on notice of expulsion because of their welcoming-and-affirming stance toward LGBTQ people. First Baptist Church of Austin replied publicly Nov. 8 to a letter officially informing the congregation…
Oklahoma voters say public money can’t fund religion
Oklahoma voters overwhelmingly rejected a ballot item that would have removed the state’s restriction against using public money for religious purposes. Oklahomans struck down State Question 790 — a proposal to remove a constitutional ban on use of taxpayer funds…
White evangelicals don’t heed leaders’ concerns about Trump
Many white evangelicals did not follow their leaders voicing grave concerns about Donald Trump, according to exit polls showing the president-elect winning four out of every five votes cast by a demographic long taken for granted by the GOP. The…
Liberia Baptist seminary taps new leader
Trustees of the Liberia Baptist Theological Seminary have selected a pastor from North Carolina as the school’s next president. The Rev. Terry Henry, senior pastor of Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church in Wilmington, N.C., for 28 years, officially takes office Jan. 1….
BJC lawyer urges defeat of Okla. no-aid repeal
A lawyer who specializes in religious liberty concerns urged Oklahoma supporters on the eve of Election Day to vote against a ballot initiative ending the state’s constitutional ban on using taxpayer funds for religious purposes. Baptist Joint Committee for Religious…
Arkansas Baptists say transgenderism is in the mind
Southern Baptists in Arkansas opposed efforts by the government to legitimize transgender identity in one of eight resolutions adopted during the Oct. 25-26 Arkansas Baptist State Convention annual meeting in Little Rock. The resolution described “gender dysphoria” — the medical term…