Southern Baptist leaders and organizations should have known former youth minister Keenan Hord posed a danger to minors at First Baptist Church in Bentonville, Ark., according to a lawsuit filed by the parent of a sexual abuse victim. The action…
Megachurches aren’t forever
While researching historical data for another article this week, I stumbled upon a list of the largest churches in America in 1983-1984, and before I knew it, I was down the rabbit hole of curiosity. This list was published in…
Mandrell’s early departure from Lifeway is not the norm
Ben Mandrell is not the first president of Lifeway Christian Resources to leave the post for a pastorate, but the 48-year-old’s call to Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis is a rarity in the publisher’s 134-year-history. Earlier today, Mandrell accepted the…
Mandrell to leave Lifeway for Memphis pastorate
Six years after taking leadership of Lifeway Christian Resources, Ben Mandrell is leaving for a prominent Tennessee pastorate. The pastor search committee at Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis has unanimously recommended Mandrell as the church’s next senior pastor, succeeding Steve…
Former Bellevue youth pastor ‘credibly accused of abusing adolescents’ at Baptist church in Arkansas
A former youth pastor at one of the Southern Baptist Convention’s flagship churches was arrested last week on one charge of sexual indecency with a child, according to a report in the Memphis Commercial-Appeal. Keenan Hord, 32, worked at a…