A Methodist foster care and adoption agency that receives government funding may continue to serve “Christians only” because the Jewish couple who challenged the agency were found by a Tennessee court not to have legal standing. The religious discrimination at…
Distinguished preaching professor says he was fired from Southwestern Seminary; administrators say he quit
A Southwestern Seminary professor who shared a platform with disgraced former seminary President Paige Patterson this spring either has been fired or has resigned, depending on who’s telling the story. David Allen, who served 18 years as distinguished professor of…
No, BJC has not become a leftist mouthpiece
Last week I heard someone suggest that Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty has moved to the left politically and abandoned its historic Baptist tradition. There’s an agricultural word to describe the fallacy of that argument, but I won’t use…
Acerbic Baptist blogger and podcaster JD Hall accused of domestic violence
One of the sharpest far-right defenders of the faith — and accuser of everyone from Southern Baptist Convention leaders to Baptist News Global — has been accused of assault with a weapon and strangulation of a partner or family member,…
When is a ‘church’ not really a church? Only when defined by the IRS
Not only are conservative evangelicals seeking to redefine religious liberty to their favor through court rulings, they’re also quietly using a provision of the IRS code to shield their flourishing nonprofit ministries from financial reporting obligations and to aid in…
Sam Harrell leaving CBF Global Missions for Africa Exchange role
The two top leadership roles for Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Global Missions soon will be vacant, as Sam Harrell leaves his post as associate coordinator July 31. He has been named full-time coordinator of Africa Exchange, which serves vulnerable children in…
Belief in a literal interpretation of the Bible at all-time low among Americans, Gallup reports
While response to recent Supreme Court rulings on abortion, religious liberty and gun control have shown how widely out of step conservative evangelicals in America are from the rest of the population, there’s fresh data showing a similar gap on…
Americans United says Florida is inserting white Christian nationalism in the classroom
Americans United for Separation of Church and State is investigating allegations that the state of Florida is promoting white Christian nationalism through new public school curriculum standards. Concerns stem from a new Civics Literacy Excellence Initiative promoted by Gov. Ron…
Not everyone believes there’s a sexual abuse crisis in the SBC
First, Jennifer Lyell had to defend herself against a public misrepresentation of her story of sexual abuse published by Baptist Press; now she’s facing a second public humiliation from critics who believe the Southern Baptist Convention’s sexual abuse investigation is…