The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee will launch an internal investigation into how its recently removed interim president deceived the denomination for years about his educational background and military service — both of which appear to be bogus. Although Executive…
SBC Executive Committee has another interim president
The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee now has its third leader in 18 months. Jonathan Howe, vice president for communications, has been named interim president following the sudden resignation of Willie McLaurin last Friday. McLaurin was named interim president in…
Interim president of SBC Executive Committee resigns, admits to falsifying resume
The interim president of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee — recently considered a likely candidate for the permanent post — resigned abruptly Aug. 17. A statement from the chairman of Executive Committee trustees said McLaurin had falsified information on…
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…
Rick Warren outlines five reasons Saddleback will challenge its expulsion from SBC
Rick Warren and Saddleback Church plan to vigorously object to their expulsion from the Southern Baptist Convention at the SBC annual meeting next month in New Orleans. Warren, who was founding pastor of the Southern California megachurch and recently retired,…
Fallout from SBC Executive Committee spills out online
By some accounts it was an orderly and kind meeting, while by other accounts it was a meeting driven by inappropriate Christian conduct. And in the aftermath of one of the most unusual events in Southern Baptist Convention history, a…
What went wrong at the SBC Executive Committee?
True confession: I have something in common with Adron Robinson. I, too, have chaired a failed search committee. But my experience was on a local-church level, not on a national denominational level. Nevertheless, I have more empathy for the chair…
SBC Executive Committee rejects nominee for president
In an unprecedented historical moment, trustees of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee have rejected — by a wide margin — the nominee to become president of the powerful SBC coordinating group. Jared Wellman, pastor of Tate Springs Baptist Church…
A storm is brewing ahead of the purported nomination of an SBC Executive Committee president on Monday
This story was updated Sunday afternoon, April 30, to include information published by Baptist Press. The nominee to become president of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee has drawn public opposition over the weekend even before his nomination was publicly…
In the SBC, a cord of three is not easily broken: Debates about sexuality, gender and abuse all twist together
There’s only one thing Southern Baptist Convention conservatives get more upset about than women serving as pastors: The slightest affirmation of LGBTQ persons. This truth was borne out in the SBC over the last week as leaders sought to put…
Southern Baptist Convention ousts its largest church, Saddleback, for having a woman pastor
The Southern Baptist Convention has removed its largest congregation, Saddleback Church of Lake Forest, Calif., for appointing a woman as a teaching pastor. The SBC Executive Committee, which acts on behalf of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination in-between the convention’s…
SBC selects Guidepost Solutions to develop and administer clergy sexual abuse database
The Southern Baptist Convention has turned to a familiar source to operate its online database of clergy sexual abusers. Faith-Based Solutions, a division of the investigative firm Guidepost Solutions, will build and develop the SBC’s Ministry Check website, members of…