Baptist News Global

Randall Lolley, key figure in resisting SBC’s conservative shift, dies at 90

Editor’s note: This story will be updated as new information becomes available. Randall Lolley, one of the pivotal figures in the late-20th-century schism in the Southern Baptist Convention and an early leader in the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, died March 21…

Two key developments in voting rights rulings in Arkansas

Arkansas now finds itself at the center of the nation’s debate over what’s “election integrity” and what’s “voter suppression.” And a Baptist judge is one of the key players. Arkansas Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen (who also is a BNG columnist)…

The Freddie Freeman Effect

Over the last two years, Freddie Freeman, the five-time All-Star first baseman for the Atlanta Braves, has become a focus for folks eager to extrapolate the meanings of a mixture of national crises that include health, economics and the forging…

Latest PRRI data show growing gap between white evangelicals and other Americans over same-sex marriage and legal protections for LGBTQ people

While the same-sex marriage now is the law of the land in the United States, white evangelical Christians remain distinct outliers among all Americans in accepting that reality. This finding from Public Religion Research Institute comes amid a backdrop in…

Anti-LGBTQ legislation is bad science, bad politics and bad theology, and it’s going to get people killed

Needing yet another wedge issue for election season, Republicans in many states are at work attempting to pass legislation that targets LGBTQ people, with a special emphasis on the T. The year 2022 already has surpassed the record-breaking 2021 as…

Why praying for God’s will to be done is a dangerous act

Something remarkable and courageous, perhaps even miraculous, happened in Russia on Monday, March 14. Marina Ovsyannikova, a news editor at Channel One, the Kremlin’s leading news channel with 250 million viewers worldwide, suddenly appeared behind the news anchor during the…

Leland Center names Pruitt president

The John Leland Center for Theological Studies has named Kenneth R. Pruitt as president. Pruitt comes to the role from the pastorate of King’s Grant Baptist Church in Virginia Beach, Va. He has been an officer on the school’s board…

Another dispute over SBC’s mishandling of sexual abuse claims breaks out on Twitter, including release of another recorded conversation

The Southern Baptist Convention’s reckoning with abuse continued unfolding in the public eye this week with multiple fiery Twitter exchanges and leaked audio of a confrontation between two male pastors and a female abuse survivor. The kerfuffle began the night…

Seeking the blessing of those who welcome us to the land

Edith and I travel a lot and have done so for years. We spent four years where we just traveled around from reservation to reservation across the United States and Canada and mentored a number of people. We also did…

A new scholarship for students who advocate care and justice for LGBTQ persons garnered the most support on Baylor Giving Day

While Baylor University regents and administrators continue to walk a tightrope over LGBTQ inclusion, rank-and-file donors made their voices heard on the university’s annual Baylor Giving Day March 16. The event’s leaderboard shows the new Paul Eddie Dwyer Endowed Scholarship…

On this date 85 years ago, the worst school tragedy in American history occurred

On Thursday afternoon, March 18, 1937, in the Texas oil boom town of New London, 694 students and 40 teachers awaited the dismissal bell and the start of a special three-day weekend. Then at 3:17 p.m., just 13 minutes before…

The Civil Rights leader nobody knows on his 100th birthday

On March 18, 2022, Fred Shuttlesworth, one of the least known but most impactful figures in the Civil Rights movement, would have celebrated his 100th birthday. Unless you are a historian of that movement or one of my friends, you probably…

Except for white evangelicals, Americans have soured on Trump’s leadership

CBF approves $16 million budget, leaders challenge more mission

The Black Church was not meant to save America

Caner sues Truett-McConnell for wrongful firing