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…
Where are the women on the SBC’s first and second sexual abuse task forces?
The newest task force appointed to address sexual abuse in the Southern Baptist Convention shares one key thing in common with the first Sexual Abuse Task Force that wrapped up its work this summer: Only two women are represented on…
The SBC rebuffed its most extreme factions but remains extremely conservative
By some accounts, the Southern Baptist Convention once again rejected its most extreme factions during this year’s annual meeting in Anaheim, Calif. But by any outside measure, the nation’s largest non-Catholic denomination remains extremely conservative. Defining the term “conservative” within…
Southern Baptists approve sexual abuse response and debate doctrinal parameters
Southern Baptists spent their annual meeting debating how tight the doctrinal boundaries should be around the denomination’s fellowship. Sexual abusers are out. But so are members of the LGBTQ community and those who support them. Women pastors are out, although a…