The U.S. Supreme Court has denied Will McRaney’s final effort to hold the Southern Baptist Convention North American Mission Board responsible for his 2015 firing as executive director of the Baptist Convention of Maryland and Delaware. In a legal battle…
Inside NAMB’s deficit spiral and the retirees paying for it
When Baptist News Global reported the North American Mission Board was cancelling life‑insurance coverage it long promised to forced retirees, NAMB described the move as painful but responsible “stewardship,” a hard step it said would let the mission board “live within…
NAMB reneges on life insurance promised to forced retirees
“We planned our funerals around that promise.” Bert Ross remembers the paperwork he signed in December 2010, when he and nearly a hundred others were pushed out of the Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board in a large downsizing….
Fifth Circuit panel rules 2-1 in favor of NAMB and against McRaney
After 17 months of silence, a three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled 2-1 against Will McRaney and in favor of the Southern Baptist Convention North American Mission Board. The Sept. 9 ruling is the…
NAMB skewered for its nonresponse response on Hunt’s compensation
Some of the most conservative media outlets covering Christianity in America are skewering the Southern Baptist Convention North American Mission Board for its policy of communication by obfuscation. Protestia represents the far-far right of American evangelicalism. The latest headline at the…
Ezell says ‘nothing has changed’ with BGCT church planting
“Nothing has changed in how we fund the BGCT,” Kevin Ezell said in a Baptist Press article Nov. 25. “And nothing has changed in the way we can partner with Southern Baptist churches affiliated with the BGCT.” That might be…
Critics see NAMB race car as symbol of financial excess they still want to curb
The quest to demand great financial accountability from the Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board accelerated as messengers to the SBC annual meeting in Indianapolis were greeted by an Indy race car wrapped with the NAMB logo. This prominent…
How Southern Baptists got ‘distracted’ from the gospel
What do you think might count as a “distraction” from the gospel? To Southern Baptist Convention presidential candidate David Allen, all the sexual abuse cases piling up against the SBC and its churches are a “distraction.” To North American Mission…
Ezell writes state convention leaders to offer ‘helpful information’ on McRaney case
After a long period of public silence about the defamation case brought against him and the Southern Baptist Convention North American Mission Board, Kevin Ezell sent a message to state Baptist convention executives May 10 offering “helpful information in case…
Barber apologizes for ‘Monopoly money’ quip while mission board presidents say they won’t give money to launch new commission
The $2.5 million to $5 million reportedly needed to launch an independent commission to address and prevent claims of sexual abuse in Southern Baptist Convention churches will not come from the SBC’s two mission boards, their presidents said Feb. 21….
Oral arguments in McRaney’s appeal set for April 4
A trial date has been set for Will McRaney’s appeal of a single judge’s dismissal of his defamation case against the Southern Baptist Convention North American Mission Board. McRaney and NAMB representatives have been summoned to New Orleans April 4…
More Baptist leaders cite pattern of bullying from Ezell and NAMB
Bobby Gilstrap seemed to model what Southern Baptists would want in a denominational leader. Educated at two Southern Baptist Convention seminaries, he served as a pastor, then served 10 years as an associational director of missions in Michigan, where he…