First, Jennifer Lyell had to defend herself against a public misrepresentation of her story of sexual abuse published by Baptist Press; now she’s facing a second public humiliation from critics who believe the Southern Baptist Convention’s sexual abuse investigation is…
In early contests, Conservative Baptist Network loses SBC leadership posts
In the preliminaries to the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting, candidates backed by the Conservative Baptist Network June 13 were turned back in every attempt to gain leadership. Whether that trend will continue on the opening day of the SBC…
Some action items emerge from SBC sexual abuse crisis, but is it too little and too slow?
The Southern Baptist Convention’s Sexual Abuse Task Force has issued a series of responses to the recent Guidepost Solutions investigation that range from suggestions to two action items to be considered by messengers to the SBC annual meeting this summer….
SBC plans to release list of known sexual abusers in churches, refutes its own former general counsel
The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, hit hard by an independent investigation of mishandling of sexual abuse claims over the past two decades, wants to release a secret file with the names of 703 alleged clergy abusers, has repudiated a…
Tear down the SBC Executive Committee and replace it
Institutional, systematic evil hides in dark corners and whispers in hushed tones. It can undermine the innocent and protect the guilty. Systematic evil is evil in its most destructive format. It is evil with the largest victim count. It is…
As report of SBC Sexual Abuse Task Force nears, Southern Baptists are just beginning to count the cost of this work
What will be the final cost of the Southern Baptist Convention’s investigation into allegations of mishandling sexual abuse claims? There are, of course, costs in terms of reputation and witness, but also financial costs that could take years to fully…
With annual meeting attendance on the rise again, SBC must switch locations for 2023
The Southern Baptist Convention has outgrown its meeting space for 2023. In a move reminiscent of days of controversy in the 1980s and 1990s, attendance at SBC annual meetings has been on the rise since 2018 — after settling down…
Against the odds, the SBC is experiencing a double-digit increase in giving
On the heels of a global pandemic and amid its own multi-faceted schism, the Southern Baptist Convention is experiencing something few could have predicted: Financial gifts to the SBC for the 2021-2022 fiscal year are up — way up. The…
Another dispute over SBC’s mishandling of sexual abuse claims breaks out on Twitter, including release of another recorded conversation
The Southern Baptist Convention’s reckoning with abuse continued unfolding in the public eye this week with multiple fiery Twitter exchanges and leaked audio of a confrontation between two male pastors and a female abuse survivor. The kerfuffle began the night…
SBC Executive Committee publicly apologizes to sexual abuse survivor
In a stunning reversal of course, the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee acknowledged its own mishandling of a report of sexual abuse and publicly apologized to the survivor in a statement by Chairman Rolland Slade Feb. 22. That statement was…
SBC Executive Committee names presidential search team
The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee has named a search team to find its next president, filling the staff vacancy created by Ronnie Floyd’s abrupt departure last fall. Floyd quit Oct 14 after only 28 months on the job, saying…
Litton and McLaurin urge SBC Executive Committee toward compassion and Christlikeness
The Southern Baptist Convention must address its “stains” of racism and tolerating sexual abuse, President Ed Litton told members of the SBC Executive Committee Monday night, Feb. 21. He spoke just hours after a group of sexual abuse survivors held…