The Southern Baptist Convention has not always opposed abortion, and Southern Baptists have not always opposed in vitro fertilization. This week’s adoption of an anti-IVF resolution by messengers to the SBC annual meeting represents yet another rightward shift in the…
SBC engages feisty debate on meaning of religious liberty before adopting resolution
That there are two distinct views on the meaning of religious liberty among Southern Baptists came into stark contrast June 11 during lengthy debate of a resolution “on defending religious liberty.” The convention’s Resolutions Committee put forward the resolution that…
The Law Amendment may not be the most important action taken at next week’s SBC annual meeting
The Southern Baptist Convention has been at war with itself for more than 40 years, with each new battle promising uniformity that never materializes for long. This year’s SBC annual meeting, happening next week in Indianapolis, represents another major front…
The Law Amendment is one more SBC backlash against women
Next week, the Southern Baptist Convention will hold its annual meeting in Indianapolis and vote on the second reading of what has come to be known as the Law Amendment. A proposed amendment to the SBC’s Constitution, named after the…
In other news, the SBC is not threatened by AI but is threatened by transgender people
Amid all the headlines about the Southern Baptist Convention’s stance against women in ministry last week, other actions that would have made headlines in a normal year fell from view. Two such actions came in the form of resolutions among…
Resolving to ‘respect the diversity’ of the global Baptist family
Last week, Baptist News Global reported the removal from the Baptist World Alliance Commission on Interfaith Relations and another BWA commission of a gay man whose sexual orientation and same-sex marriage were known at the time of his appointment. Much…
Thoughts on crossing the threshold to a new year
When I was a boy, it happened every New Year’s morning. My father would wake me up early and we would get in his truck and set out to meet most of his seven brothers for coffee and conversation at…
Texas Baptists ‘affirm’ women while making gender an article of faith
The Baptist General Convention of Texas has “affirmed” women as contributors to God’s work while also adopting a new faith statement that — mixed in with core historic Baptist beliefs — says “gender is a gift from God who creates…
SBC steers a decidedly conservative course but rejects the most far-right agenda while putting Executive Committee and Ronnie Floyd on notice
While affirming bread-and-butter conservative issues on the first day of its annual meeting June 15, the Southern Baptist Convention turned back attempts at harder-line positions desired by the most conservative bloc of the body. That included a narrow rejection of…