As the Southern Baptist Speaker of the House in Tennessee continues to stall attempts to address gun violence, some Southern Baptist leaders and United Methodist leaders in the state are calling for more to be done. Speaker of the House…
Patterson and Southwestern settle with Pressler’s accuser
For the second time in two weeks, Paige Patterson and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary have been set free of legal action against them. Writing for the Nashville Tennessean, religion writer Liam Adams reported April 20 that both Patterson and Southwestern…
Oklahoma Baptist University hit by tornado
Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee, Okla., took a direct hit from tornadoes that blew through Central Oklahoma Wednesday evening, April 19. According to published news reports and photos posted online, the campus sustained significant damage, but no person was harmed….
Texas is first step in a national plan to install ‘chaplains’ in public schools instead of professional counselors
A Texas proposal to allow unlicensed “chaplains” to take the place of public school counselors undermines religious liberty, according to Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty and others. The Texas Legislature is considering House Bill 3614 and Senate Bill 763,…
Southwestern trustees told previous administration made ‘imprudent’ and ‘unwise’ financial decisions
The former president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary made some “imprudent” and “unwise” financial decisions, including “some activities contrary to institutional policies, seminary trustees were told this week. “These findings, however, did not rise to the level of requiring further…
Dockery named Southwestern Seminary’s 10th president
The interim leadership at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary has been made official, trustees announced April 19. David Dockery, 70, was named 10th president of the Southern Baptist Convention seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. O.S. Hawkins, 75, was named to a…
Political gap on environment versus economy at widest point ever
On this year’s Earth Day, the gap between Republicans and Democrats on environmental protection is wider than the ozone hole in the earth’s atmosphere. Gallup reports “the gap between the parties has never been larger” when asked to consider tradeoffs…
Evangelical university president seeks to raise money by casting blame on transgender people
The president of Trinity International University this week sent out a fundraising letter complaining about cultural acceptance of transgender people and linking this acceptance to the recent mass shooting that left six people dead in Nashville, Tenn. Some alumni of…
Charles Stanley shaped Christian broadcasting and the Southern Baptist Convention
Charles Frazier Stanley, one of the best-known Southern Baptist preachers of the 20th century, died April 18 at age 90. Raised in the Pentecostal tradition, Stanley was ordained to ministry by a Southern Baptist church as a young man, then…