In yet another sign of how church networks are replacing denominational identity, the Acts 29 network announced Jan. 11 that it will provide up to $50,000 apiece for new churches started through its sponsorship. Leaders of Acts 29 insist it…
SBC president blacklists former leader accused of enabling abuse
Southern Baptist Convention President J.D. Greear says that local church autonomy does not excuse Southern Baptists from holding one another accountable in a mild rebuke of churches giving platform to Paige Patterson, a disgraced former leader accused of enabling sexual abusers.
Ahead of conference on sexual abuse, SBC promotes author whose church is being sued over its handling of a minister’s alleged molestation of an 11-year-old girl
Two weeks ahead of a national conference on caring well for the abused, the Southern Baptist Convention promoted a book by a high-profile pastor accused of mishandling abuse, to the consternation of survivor advocates.
Breaking up is hard to do? Notable absences at next year’s Together for the Gospel
A lineup of speakers for the 2020 Together for the Gospel conference announced Sept. 3 excludes a number of familiar faces from past gatherings, suggesting possible rifts in the Neo-Calvinist preaching club sometimes called the young, restless and Reformed.
Southern Baptist megachurch denies liability in sex abuse lawsuit
Matt Chandler’s Village Church denied any wrongdoing in its response to a $1 million lawsuit stemming from the alleged sexual assault of an 11-year-old girl at a church camp in 2012.
Christian speaker removed from conference over church’s views on women, gays
A staff member at a Southern Baptist megachurch accused in a recent New York Times story of trying to shirk responsibility for child sex abuse has been removed as a speaker at an upcoming design conference because of the church’s stance on women and homosexuality.
Former staffer at SBC megachurch charged with child sex crime
A former children’s minister at a Southern Baptist megachurch in Texas has been indicted and is being prosecuted for indecency with a child stemming from allegations involving a minor at a church youth camp in 2012. Matthew David Tonne, 35,…
Have some evangelicals embraced moral relativism?
By what ethical framework do we say that individuals and churches are supposed to take one stance towards the poor and dispossessed, but as a collective nation we should take a different — even opposite — stance? If something is right or good depending solely upon who carries it out, is that not a form of moral relativism?
Pastor in alleged sex abuse cover-up returns to preaching conference roster
Organizers of a major preaching conference this week in Louisville, Ky., ignored calls to disinvite a founder of the conference accused of participating in a cover-up of child sexual abuse. C.J. Mahaney, pastor of Sovereign Grace Church in Louisville, took…