To add further intrigue to the Southern Baptist Convention’s reckoning with sexual abuse in its churches, the denomination announced March 6 that a federal investigation into the SBC has been closed — but abuse survivors who say they are in…
Southern Baptist theology set me up for sexual abuse
I grew up in a fundamentalist Southern Baptist church in Georgia. I was on the “cradle roll” from the time I was six weeks old, and I was at church “every time the doors were open,” as the saying goes….
Seminary president nominated to lead SBC Executive Committee
After 30 months without a permanent leader, the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee could be on the brink of hiring a president. California seminary president Jeff Iorg, 65, has been nominated for the post by a search committee that has…
For decades, BJC struggled to live up to its ‘joint’ representation of Blacks and whites
Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty in Washington, D.C., is and has been an institution long championed by moderate and progressive Baptists for its defense of religious liberty for all people. Since 1936, Baptists from across geographic and racial lines…
Letter to the Editor: Speaking ill of the dead
February 25, 2024 Dear Editor: Ken Chafin was a friend of mine. I could not believe what the Baptist pope, Al Mohler, said about my dead friend. It says something about his lack of character to belittle a dead man. The…
Barber apologizes for ‘Monopoly money’ quip while mission board presidents say they won’t give money to launch new commission
The $2.5 million to $5 million reportedly needed to launch an independent commission to address and prevent claims of sexual abuse in Southern Baptist Convention churches will not come from the SBC’s two mission boards, their presidents said Feb. 21….
Pressler’s power ensnares an unlikely victim, Al Mohler
Poor Al Mohler. He’s Paul Pressler’s latest victim. “How can that be?” you ask. “Nobody has enjoyed Southern Baptist Convention prominence as famously and magnificently as Al Mohler.” That’s true, of course. Mohler came along at just the right time…
SBC’s budget takes a hit after more than a decade of inflation losses; Executive Committee expels four churches
A decade ago, the Southern Baptist Convention received $190,468,781 in Cooperative Program gifts from its churches nationwide. For the new year beginning Oct. 1, 2024, the proposed Cooperative Program budget is about the same: $190,250,000. By one measure, giving to…
Churches that support women in ministry should leave the SBC preemptively
Once again, the SBC Executive Committee has decided that a church who called a woman as their senior pastor should be disfellowshipped. This time, the church is Immanuel Baptist Church in Paducah, Ky., where Katie McKown was called to become…
SBC wants to create independent commission to address and prevent sexual abuse, but funding uncertain
The Southern Baptist Convention will create a new, independent nonprofit to address allegations and investigations of sexual abuse in SBC churches, according to the second task force assigned to figure out solutions. Josh Wester, chairman of the SBC’s Abuse Reform…
Mohler says he finds it hard to believe allegations against Pressler are true
Sexual abuse allegations against Paul Pressler are “so horrifying that it’s actually very hard to imagine that they could be real,” said Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. Mohler spoke Feb. 16 at Kenwood Baptist…
Even as others knew of allegations against Pressler, Texas House resolution praised him as ‘man of faith’
Nine years after leaders at First Baptist Church of Houston were told about allegations against Paul Pressler for sexually abusing boys and young men, the Texas House of Representatives passed a lengthy resolution of praise for the Houston judge and…