The bombshell investigative report of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee by Guidepost Solutions comes as no surprise, given each of the items mentioned is hardly new. What is new is that these items have been “objectively” considered by a…
Anonymous group calls for more transparency from SBC’s North American Mission Board
A group that has been dogging the Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board for alleged abuses launched a new “whistleblower” website Feb. 7. The site includes links to previous articles and new content created by a group called Reform…
McRaney case against NAMB must proceed for now, U.S. district court rules
For those who are keeping score at home, the stats are now Will McRaney 4 and North American Mission Board 1. But this legal game is far from over. In the latest twist to the curious case of McRaney’s lawsuit…
SBC says church planters must pledge not to hire women as pastors just like they pledge not to drink alcohol
Faced with pressure from its rightward flank, the Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board issued a statement Oct. 14 promising that “only qualified men” will “serve as the communicator for teaching and preaching” at church plants endorsed by NAMB….
Supreme Court rejects NAMB’s request, sending McRaney case back to trial
The United States Supreme Court has denied a request by the Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board to end a case brought against it by the former leader of a Baptist state convention. Among a long list of cases…
Three dozen others join NAMB in asking Supreme Court not to allow McRaney case on religious liberty grounds
The case of a Baptist state convention leader fired because of what he considers undue influence by a national Southern Baptist Convention agency is drawing intense national interest — but not for the underlying merits of the case itself. More…
SBC agency’s appeal to Supreme Court touches on religious liberty, defamation and Baptist autonomy
A federal lawsuit that combines questions of religious liberty, defamation and the meaning of Baptist autonomy has been appealed to the United States Supreme Court. The Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board, the defendant in the original 2017 case,…
State conventions beyond the South question SBC North American Mission Board’s spending and accountability for church planting
A decade-long disagreement over how Southern Baptists fund church planting and missions in North America is coming to a head and threatens the sanctity of the denomination’s spirit of cooperative giving. The result: State conventions outside the South are reducing…
NAMB lawsuit tests when courts can – and cannot – resolve disputes in religious bodies
A common law doctrine long used to determine when disputes within a religious entity require intervention by civil courts took center stage in oral arguments Feb. 6 in the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans.