Thomas Henry Graves, founding president of Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond, died Aug. 17 at age 75. Trained as a Southern Baptist pastor, he became a leader in the so-called “moderate” movement that broke away to create the Alliance of…
Lahaina’s diverse religious community won’t be stopped by wildfire
As the Hawaii Conference of the United Church of Christ gathered for worship via Zoom Aug. 20, worshipers heard a bell toll 114 times. That was one bell for every confirmed life lost in the wildfires that have ravaged parts…
SBC Executive Committee has another interim president
The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee now has its third leader in 18 months. Jonathan Howe, vice president for communications, has been named interim president following the sudden resignation of Willie McLaurin last Friday. McLaurin was named interim president in…
Interim president of SBC Executive Committee resigns, admits to falsifying resume
The interim president of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee — recently considered a likely candidate for the permanent post — resigned abruptly Aug. 17. A statement from the chairman of Executive Committee trustees said McLaurin had falsified information on…
McRaney warns dismissal of his case against NAMB raises urgent threat to Baptist autonomy
Unless challenged, one judge’s ruling could have profound implications for Baptist autonomy, according to Will McRaney, whose defamation suit against the Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board was dismissed Aug. 15. “The judge’s ruling is built around the erroneous…
U.S. district judge dismisses McRaney’s case against NAMB
After years of wrangling, a United States District Court on Aug. 15 dismissed Will McRaney’s lawsuit against the Southern Baptist Convention North American Mission Board, claiming lack of subject matter jurisdiction. That means, in short, the court believes McRaney’s claims…
Southwestern appears to have stopped the bleeding
As a new academic year dawns at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, the new administration reported a slight increase in enrollment during the previous academic year just ended. That indicates a hopeful correction to two decades of decline in what once…
Allies of Greg Abbott appeal to Genesis to defend governor’s buoy border wall
Twenty-two Republican members of Congress have turned to the book of Genesis for justification on why the State of Texas and not the federal government should have control of the Rio Grande River that serves as a border between the…
SBC president urges churches considering leaving to ‘press pause’
The president of the Southern Baptist Convention has urged churches considering leaving the SBC to “press pause” until they hear from a new task force on cooperation that has not yet been named and will have less than nine months…
Fellowship Southwest plans first-ever conference on compassion and social justice
Come to Fellowship Southwest’s first-ever conference on compassion and social justice and you won’t be asked to wear a lanyard. That’s perhaps a selling point compared to most conferences plagued by the ever-present plastic nametag holder and fabric lanyard around…
As seminary enrollment dropped and expenses rose, trustees gave Patterson a $25,000 ‘vacation fund’
In 2008, as enrollment was declining and expenses were skyrocketing, trustees of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary gave Paige Patterson a gift for his fifth anniversary as president. That gift was a $25,000 “vacation fund” to be used at the discretion…
One name that muddles the debate over women in ministry in the SBC
Debate over the role of women in ministry in Southern Baptist life has resurrected the dead. One of the names most often tossed about this spring and summer as the SBC moved toward expelling churches that allow women to preach…