For the first time in 35 years, a reform candidate has been elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention, defeating an institutional candidate. Florida pastor Willy Rice — who withdrew from the presidential race in 2022 — won the presidency…
Mohler and Pressley on women having a seat at pastoral table
Conservatives were “inches from losing the Southern Baptist Convention” before the “conservative resurgence,” Al Mohler told SBC President Clint Pressley in a new podcast. Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., has been a standard bearer for…
A high-profile conservative Southern Baptist becomes Catholic
A former high-profile leader of the “conservative resurgence” in the Southern Baptist Convention has become a Roman Catholic. Jerry Johnson first came to public attention in 1990 when as a 25-year-old pastor he was elected a trustee of Southern Baptist…
A Baptist boy’s journey toward faith, freedom and authenticity
When I was 5 years old, I believed I could be nothing but a Southern Baptist. My friends were Southern Baptists, my family was Southern Baptist, and my Appalachian community likewise was Southern Baptist. We worshiped in a small brick…
Alumni of ‘old’ Southern Seminary gather for reunion
Alumni and faculty of pre-1993 Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky, gathered Aug. 15-16 for a reunion hosted by Wake Forest University School of Divinity in Winston Salem, N.C. That pivotal year was when the “conservative resurgence” took full…
Marshall says ‘scandalous providence’ preserved her life’s work
When she was forced off the faculty of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and accused of heresy, Molly Marshall found “a scandalous providence preserved my vocation and my life’s work,” she recently recalled. Marshall, now president of United Theological Seminary of…
Letter to the Editor: The misnamed ‘conservative resurgence’
Dear Editor: I enjoyed your recent article on discovering the history of the phrase “conservative resurgence.” I appreciated reading about the frustrating walk you and your colleagues had in describing the events at the time. Pastors and journalists share the…
My quest to find the origins of the term ‘conservative resurgence’
A few months ago, a former colleague published a video blog in which he confessed he fears he accidentally coined the term “conservative resurgence” in the Southern Baptist Convention. That sent me digging into the depths of the internet and…
In three-hour interview, Mohler says he ‘hopes and prays’ Jimmy Carter is born again
Al Mohler has to “hope and pray” Jimmy Carter is a born-again Christian, he told a conservative podcaster in a wide-ranging interview. But the president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary had no qualms about voting for Donald Trump for U.S….
SBC’s ‘conservative resurgence’ has brought two decades of baptism declines
The year conservatives consolidated control of the Southern Baptist Convention is the last year a key marker of denominational growth showed an overall upward trend, according to new annual data released by Lifeway Christian Resources. Even a slight rebound in…
What the SBC should do about its most famous accused sexual abuser
Thank God, Paul Pressler has lived to the ripe old age of 93. That’s long enough to expose the Southern Baptist Convention’s most malevolent hypocrite to the shame of his reported double life. Just before the end of the year,…
New court documents show First Baptist Houston leaders knew of allegations against Pressler in 2004
Leaders of First Baptist Church of Houston knew about Paul Pressler’s alleged inappropriate sexual activity with young men in 2004, according to correspondence from the church to Pressler obtained by the Texas Tribune. Journalist Robert Downen, writing for the Tribune,…