BELTON, Texas (ABP) — William Tanner, the former head of home missions for the Southern Baptist Convention, died June 10 in Belton, Texas. He was 77. Tanner was president of the SBC's Home Mission Board (now the North American Mission…
SBC messengers re-elect Page, hear motions on agency policies, clergy sex abuse
SAN ANTONIO (ABP) — Frank Page was re-elected without opposition to the traditional second one-year term as president of the Southern Baptist Convention during the first day of the denomination's annual meeting, which also featured efforts to curb clergy sexual…
Opinion: Are local Baptist churches wholly autonomous?
A philosopher once said “the meaning of a word is its use.” He didn't mean that a word can mean anything but rather that words can mean different things according to their context. I remember arguing with a former professor…
Prior to SBC meeting, WMU focuses on missions, ministry
SAN ANTONIO (ABP) — Prayer took center stage as Woman's Missionary Union leaders, missionaries, and Southern Baptist agency leaders spoke at the union's annual meeting June 11, held prior to the Southern Baptist Convention gathering. In her address, union president…
Betrayed trust: Churches work to escape trap of recycling abusers
JACKSONVILLE, Fla.(ABP) — What can churches do to prevent clergy sex-abuse and break the pattern of recycling abusers? Even among activists and experts, there is no consensus about the steps to be taken. Here are some steps on which many…
Betrayed trust: Should straying clergy be restored to ministry?
DALLAS (ABP) — When it comes to hiring church staff, some Baptists consider sexual misconduct to be an unpardonable sin, and many survivors of abuse agree. But others say it depends on which scarlet letter the minister wears: “W” for…
Betrayed trust: What to do if a minister is accused of sexual misconduct
RICHMOND, Va. (ABP) — Most pastors and staff members know that ministry puts them in unique circumstances with all kinds of people. Most also know that even a hint of wrongdoing is enough to end an otherwise fruitful ministry. For…
Betrayed trust: Sex-abuse victims speak to help others & find healing themselves
NEW YORK (ABP) — Debbie Vasquez was 14 when her pastor started touching her inappropriately. She was 15 when he raped her and 19 when she had his baby. Tina Boyd first was molested at age 11. Later, she was…
Betrayed trust: Sexual predators fly under the radar at church
NEW YORK (ABP) — Most people think they can spot a sexual predator. He’s the pale loner with greasy hair and quivering lips. Or the grinning lech who hugs too long and slowly rubs the backs of female church members….
SBC missions celebrate 300 years, look to future of associations
SAN ANTONIO (ABP) — Unless associational leaders pray for and work with their churches, they run the risk of becoming “as obsolete as a horse and buggy in a NASCAR world,” Jim Henry of Orlando, Fla., admonished Southern Baptist directors…
U.S. Latino believers prefer worship in Spanish and in the Spirit, study says
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Hispanic believers in the United States prefer “spirit-filled religious expression” and gravitate toward a “distinctively ethnic” worship experience, opting to go to church with other Hispanics and speak Spanish when they get there, according to a recent…
Betrayed trust: The recycle of abuse continues at Baptist churches
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (ABP) — Secrecy about clergy sexual abuse may protect an abuser’s current church from embarrassment but often comes at the expense of his next church — and its children. Like many small, rural congregations that find themselves without…