The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee won’t release details of its investigation into how its former interim president lied about his resume, and the person lined up to be the next interim president withdrew his name the day after he…
Barber easily wins re-election as SBC president
Faced with an unprecedented opponent in his quest for a second term as president of the Southern Baptist Convention, Texas pastor Bart Barber handily won reelection Tuesday, June 13. The congenial pastor-farmer who was a late entry into the race…
Mike Stone has an unlikely nominator for his SBC presidential run
A Florida pastor who had to drop out of the race for Southern Baptist Convention president last year because of accusations brought against him from the most conservative faction of the denomination now will nominate this year’s conservative standard bearer…
On proposed constitutional amendment, SBC president is a ‘yes, and’
The Southern Baptist Convention’s constitution has “structural problems” that are highlighted by a current effort to amend the governing rules to expel churches with women serving as pastors, SBC President Bart Barber said May 10. Barber, a pastor in a…
Mike Stone will make repeat run at SBC presidency
A Georgia pastor who has been a standard bearer for the most conservative wing of the Southern Baptist Convention will make a second run to become SBC president at this June’s annual meeting in New Orleans. Mike Stone, pastor of…
In the SBC, a cord of three is not easily broken: Debates about sexuality, gender and abuse all twist together
There’s only one thing Southern Baptist Convention conservatives get more upset about than women serving as pastors: The slightest affirmation of LGBTQ persons. This truth was borne out in the SBC over the last week as leaders sought to put…
Your words are not enough, Beth Allison Barr tells male SBC pastors on sexual abuse after Johnny Hunt’s ‘restoration’
Pastors guilty of sexual abuse never should be restored to ministry, Baylor University professor and author Beth Allison Barr wrote for a news service in the United Kingdom Dec. 9. The opinion piece published by Premier Christianity addresses the case…
SBC president blasts idea of Johnny Hunt’s ‘restoration’ to ministry
In a highly unusual move, the current president of the Southern Baptist Convention has denounced the “restoration” of a former SBC president to ministry six months after public allegations of sexual abuse. “The idea that a council of pastors, assembled…
‘Let the messengers decide,’ two SBC leaders say of debate about expelling churches with female pastors
Determining whether to exclude churches with women serving in any way as pastors should be determined by messengers to next summer’s Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting, according to the two men with the most influence over that process. SBC President…
Letter to the Editor: ‘60 Minutes’ and the questions not asked
Letter to the Editor October 10, 2022 Dear Editor: Anderson Cooper’s “60 Minutes” interview of Bart Barber began on a hopeful note. Asked if he believed the 2020 presidential election was stolen, the Southern Baptist Convention president answered: “No.” Asked…
SBC president appears on ’60 Minutes,’ tells Anderson Cooper he couldn’t be a good Christian and Southern Baptist as a gay man
The president of the Southern Baptist Convention sat for an interview with an openly gay journalist and told him on national TV Oct. 9 that he could not be a good Christian and Southern Baptist. On the CBS program “60…
SBC president says he tried to enlist more women for sexual abuse task force but got turned down repeatedly
On the same day Baptist News Global published an analysis showing severe underrepresentation of women on both the first and the second Southern Baptist Convention task forces addressing sexual abuse, the new president of the convention issued a video explaining…