By David Gushee The city of Atlanta has been riveted this week by sexual-coercion lawsuits filed by four young men against megachurch pastor Eddie Long, who leads a wealthy 25,000-member congregation in nearby Lithonia. It has been major news…
Texas religious leaders denounce Islamic-bias-in-textbooks resolution
AUSTIN, Texas (ABP) — A group of Texas clergy, including some Baptist pastors, is speaking out against a proposed resolution that a state governing board may use to embroil itself yet again in the nation’s culture wars – this time…
SBC Executive Committee deals with budget shortfall
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — Even before considering a recommendation by the Southern Baptist Convention that it reduce its budget by nearly a third to channel more money to international missions, the SBC Executive Committee is facing a cash shortfall fueled…
SBC president calls for ‘radical reprioritization’ of mission spending
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — The new president of the Southern Baptist Convention called for a "radical reprioritization" of spending in remarks to convention leaders Sept. 21. In his first remarks to the SBC Executive Committee, Bryant Wright, pastor of Johnson…
State CBF proposal sparks debate about Baptist identity
GREENSBORO, N.C. (ABP) — A move by the North Carolina Cooperative Baptist Fellowship to revisit its foundational statement has prompted a nationwide debate among scholars about what it means to be a Baptist. Larry Hovis, coordinator of North Carolina CBF,…
Trustees elect Kentucky pastor as NAMB president on split vote
ALPHARETTA, Ga. (ABP) — Behind closed doors and by a reportedly divided vote, trustees of the Southern Baptist Convention's North American Mission Board elected Kentucky pastor Kevin Ezell president of the Southern Baptist Convention's North American Mission Board after a…
Competing Christianities
By David Gushee There was only one Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ of God. But, sadly, there is not one “Christianity.” There are instead competing Christianities. This conviction burned bright for me last week when trying to figure out our…
RIGHT or WRONG? Oil-spill outrage
As crude oil began to gush into the Gulf of Mexico, everyone seemed to focus more on finger-pointing than on taking responsibility and finding solutions to the disaster. Where can a citizen lodge a legal complaint that would bring damage-control…
FAITH DIGEST
Happiness found in church, not shopping mall. Protestant and Catholic women in the United States have grown unhappier since stores have stayed open on Sundays, according to a study by economists from Israel’s Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and Chicago’s…