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…
Letter to the Editor: No one has the authority to deliver absolution to Willie McLaurin
Dear Editor: The Willie McLaurin story came at a very bad time for the SBC, even though it would be hard to find a recent time without turmoil. After spending much of my career as an expert in fraud and…
New SBC head attends a dually aligned church and his wife is a ‘minister’
The new interim president of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee is a member of a church dually aligned with the SBC and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and where his seminary-educated wife holds the job title “minister of students and…
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…
We have to talk about race when it comes to Willie McLaurin
Willie McLaurin is my friend. However, he doesn’t get a pass from me for lying on his resume. I believe he set the influence of Black Southern Baptists back by two decades or more. If you would have asked me…
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…
McRaney warns dismissal of his case against NAMB raises urgent threat to Baptist autonomy
Unless challenged, one judge’s ruling could have profound implications for Baptist autonomy, according to Will McRaney, whose defamation suit against the Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board was dismissed Aug. 15. “The judge’s ruling is built around the erroneous…
SBC president urges churches considering leaving to ‘press pause’
The president of the Southern Baptist Convention has urged churches considering leaving the SBC to “press pause” until they hear from a new task force on cooperation that has not yet been named and will have less than nine months…
One name that muddles the debate over women in ministry in the SBC
Debate over the role of women in ministry in Southern Baptist life has resurrected the dead. One of the names most often tossed about this spring and summer as the SBC moved toward expelling churches that allow women to preach…