In the wake of a scathing report about an abuse coverup, the archbishop of Canterbury has announced his resignation. “It is very clear that I must take personal and institutional responsibility,” said the archbishop, Justin Welby, in a Nov. 12…
On the Trump trial, the SBC and accountability
What happened in New York City Thursday? For one brief moment, in my 72 years, I saw a nation united around one idea that the rule of law still works as it was intended. Transparency hurts at times. In shortly…
Graduation advice for seminarians and seminaries
I approached the end of my time at divinity school with relief and joy. It had been the best and worst three years of my life. I took apart everything I thought about God, myself and others and emerged with…
Is it weird that Mike Johnson’s underage son is his porn accountability partner?
The latest theater of conservative evangelicalism’s multiple-front spiritual warfare cosplay is being dubbed the “War on Technology” by Cypress Baptist Church of Benton, La. It began as a gathering in October 2022 that promised to “help families win the technology…
Restoration without restitution is complicity
The largest evangelical megachurch in Alabama just spent $4.5 million to open a center for pastoral restoration. The center provides counseling and support for pastors working through issues that cost them their jobs — issues like marital infidelity and sexual…
Here’s how to force SBC entities to be accountable to people in the pew about their finances
Within the past week, Baptist News Global has run two news analysis pieces about Southern Baptist Convention agencies and leaders who are not telling people in the pew the full story of their financial situations. There are policies in place…
Does NAMB have no clue?
I’ve kept quiet amid the several years of very public clamoring for more financial transparency at the Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board because I no longer have a dog in that hunt. However, the Ritz-Carlton Hotel is a…
My husband and I created a database of clergy sex abusers; why couldn’t the SBC?
Many of us are struggling to come to terms with the news that the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention has covered up abuse, maligned survivors, and even kept a secret list of 700-plus sex offenders for years. In…
Accountability to God increases sense of well-being, study finds
Prayer, meditation and corporate worship aren’t the only religious factors that contribute significantly to emotional and mental well-being, a study by Baylor University and other researchers has found. The team of social scientists announced that believers who cultivate accountability to…