Given how often Dallas megachurch pastors have been in the news for abuse scandals or for run-of-the-mill sacralized misogyny over the past year, it’s only fitting that the Southern Baptist Convention would host its 2025 annual meeting in Dallas. When…
Where does a multi-site megachurch find a new pastor?
When Gateway Church in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex announced its new senior pastor, most attention fell on Daniel Floyd’s role in picking up the pieces of his predecessor’s sexual abuse scandal. But his appointment is significant for another reason: He…
What happened to Saddleback’s PEACE Plan?
Rick and Kay Warren gave an excellent interview to Krista Tippett, on the On Being radio show almost 20 years ago, on Dec. 6, 2007. In it, Pastor Rick says this: The reason there are hungry people in the world,…
Andy Stanley warns of religious leaders who prioritize politics over mission
North Point Church’s groundbreaking efforts to create churches across Georgia not designed for church people are being undermined by evangelicals who have prioritized politics over mission, Pastor Andy Stanley told his congregation Dec. 29. In a nearly hour-long sermon that…
Saddleback pastor says abortion should be No. 1 concern in voting for president
In a sermon urging Christians to focus on Jesus and to reject fear heading into the November election, Saddleback Church Pastor Andy Wood warned of dire spiritual consequences awaiting those who vote for candidates supportive of transgender rights, same-sex marriage…
Top news stories in 2023 were about Charles Stanley, women in ministry and fracturing of UMC
A 2022 story about the wealth of televangelist Charles Stanley drew more readership than any other Baptist News Global news article this year — outpacing even the later story of his death. Women in ministry, including the expulsion of Rick…
Rick Warren’s letter to the SBC was BNG’s most-read opinion piece in 2023
Rick Warren’s personal appeal to Southern Baptists about his battle with the Southern Baptist Convention over church autonomy and women in ministry were the most-read Baptist News Global opinion pieces in 2023. The issue of patriarchy and women’s roles in…
Saddleback and Fern Creek churches have left their state conventions
The two churches at the center of last summer’s debate over women in ministry in the Southern Baptist Convention have left their respective state Baptist conventions, which have heavy ties to the SBC. Saddleback Church, previously the largest church in…
Rick Warren wants to talk about the Great Commission
Rick Warren thought he was going to be late for our appointment, but with good reason. The best-known pastor in America had been to the grocery store. He knows most of the workers there by name, but this checker was…
Anti-egalitarian forces make clean sweep at SBC annual meeting
Anti-egalitarian forces in the Southern Baptist Convention made a clean sweep of their agenda to exclude women from serving as pastors of any kind in SBC churches. In the process, they affirmed the expulsion of the denomination’s largest church and…
Saddleback and Fern Creek churches face off against Al Mohler at SBC meeting
By appearances, the deck was stacked against Linda Barnes Popham and Rick Warren before they ever took the microphone at the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting Tuesday, June 13. Just an hour or so before, the nearly 13,000 messengers to…
In irregular move, SBC Executive Committee puts forward a proposal it doesn’t want to pass
The Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee doesn’t favor a proposed constitutional amendment banning female pastors but wants messengers to the SBC annual meeting to vote on it anyway. During a June 12 meeting in New Orleans one day before the…