The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops elected conservative Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City as its new president Nov. 11. The move by the American Catholic Church drew both calls for unity from the new leader and a…
Report claims Assemblies of God prioritized forgiveness over safety
The Assemblies of God — one of the world’s largest Pentecostal denominations — has been thrust into a crisis of theology and failed accountability related to clergy sexual abuse. An exhaustive investigation by NBC News found a five-decades-long pattern of…
Robert Morris pleads guilty to child sexual abuse
In a plea agreement announced Oct. 2, Gateway Church founder Robert Morris pleaded guilty to five felony counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child. Morris was given a 10-year sentence, but with the negotiated plea deal will serve…
The theology of a predator
“I ain’t gonna take the blame for no bastard child! It would ruin me, man. You can understand that, can’t you? Listen to me, boy. She was … delusional. She was crazy.” So goes the frantic defense of Rev. Preston…
The inhumanity of SBC leaders’ indifference
“Where are the SBC leaders who will call Allen Jordan to account?” This was the question Mark Wingfield posed in a June 24 column, and I’ve been pondering it ever since. In part, I ponder this because it’s personal —…
Where are the SBC leaders who will call Allen Jordan to account?
For a decade now, the Southern Baptist Convention has abided a voracious liar in its midst and done nothing publicly to silence him. That liar is Allen Jordan, who lives in Houston and is the most persistent denier of a…
Does Jeff Iorg really believe Christa Brown and Tiffany Thigpen are liars?
The most persistent denier of a sexual abuse crisis in the Southern Baptist Convention now says SBC Executive Committee President Jeff Iorg agrees with him that the stories of two key abuse survivors are false. In a June 18 email…
A guide to understanding this week’s conversations about the SBC and sexual abuse
When you hear people talk about sexual abuse claims and the Southern Baptist Convention, it’s not the same as talking about the Roman Catholic Church and sexual abuse. Yes, there are clergy culprits in both religious bodies. And yes, there…
For abuse survivors, SBC meeting brings pain and lessons
When the Southern Baptist Convention meets next week in Dallas, many clergy sex abuse survivors will feel the hurt and betrayal of it. This will be the first SBC annual meeting since Executive Committee President Jeff Iorg made it clear…
In Georgia, a Baptist school accused of ignoring sexual abuse despite a mountain of evidence
Barely two weeks before Southern Baptists gather in Dallas for their annual meeting, another alleged sexual abuse case — this time involving a former student at a Georgia Baptist university — has surfaced. The story includes the alleged grooming of…
When a church’s sexual abuse is so pernicious the church should close
“The nation of Israel was born because Joseph went to prison,” former IHOPKC pastor Mike Bickle told the congregation in what would become his final sermon in October 2023. “He’s thrown in prison because of the betrayal of his brothers.”…
Please, no more hollow words on sexual abuse reform
Dear Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee: Please stop with all the talk-talk-talk about abuse reform. All the promises. All the posturing. All the platitudes. Just stop. Until you have at least 1,000 names of clergy sex abusers in a database…