The quest to demand great financial accountability from the Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board accelerated as messengers to the SBC annual meeting in Indianapolis were greeted by an Indy race car wrapped with the NAMB logo. This prominent…
The Law Amendment would force out this Georgia church, among others
Struggling against the powers that be in the Southern Baptist Convention is nothing new to Dunwoody Baptist Church in North Atlanta. In 1989 and 1990 when he ran as the last “moderate” candidate in the SBC presidential race, Daniel Vestal…
This is what support looks like: The First Baptist Richmond story
On May 19, First Baptist Church of Richmond, Va., made Baptist history by voting to leave the Southern Baptist Convention in support of women in ministry. Their decision wasn’t driven by hatred for the SBC or a desire to move…
Watching SBC men posture for position is exhausting
It’s exhausting to the soul. That’s what I’m feeling as I consider all the possible stories I could write regarding what white conservative men have planned for this year’s Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Indianapolis. Capturing most headlines is…
Trump tells Southern Baptists, ‘You cannot vote for Democrats’ while Mohler opposes IVF
Donald Trump spoke to a group of Southern Baptists for about a minute and a half June 10 and warned them they cannot vote for Democrats because “they’re against religion” and “they’re against your religion.” Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee…
Southern Baptist Calvinists crave authority, not Baptist theology
Do not be fooled by the new Calvinists among the Southern Baptists who are stirring fears of liberals in the denomination. Lies are being told about liberal influences in one of the most conservative denominations in the nation. And the…
A call for state AG investigations of sexual abuse in the SBC
As the Southern Baptist Convention prepares for its annual gathering next week in Indianapolis, few in the abuse survivor community hold any expectation that it will make meaningful progress toward protecting kids and congregants against clergy sex abuse. It’s now…
Dear SBC: Let my people go!
Dear Southern Baptist Convention: Welcome to Indianapolis! We Baptists — at least, the “normal” kind, whose pastoral leaders possess no desires of grandeur to elevate themselves to “bishop,” or “prophet,” or “apostle” — frequently joke about who might be bishop…
Both Trump and Pence will speak to SBC groups next week
Both Donald Trump and Mike Pence will speak at auxiliary events during the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Indianapolis next week. Pence already was known to be a speaker at a luncheon hosted by the SBC Ethics and Religious…
The Law Amendment may not be the most important action taken at next week’s SBC annual meeting
The Southern Baptist Convention has been at war with itself for more than 40 years, with each new battle promising uniformity that never materializes for long. This year’s SBC annual meeting, happening next week in Indianapolis, represents another major front…
The Law Amendment is one more SBC backlash against women
Next week, the Southern Baptist Convention will hold its annual meeting in Indianapolis and vote on the second reading of what has come to be known as the Law Amendment. A proposed amendment to the SBC’s Constitution, named after the…
Making sense of denominational decline and church shifting
Evangelical Protestantism continues to be a growing force in American Christianity, as Mainline Protestant denominations continue to decline, but where are these converts coming from? There is very little data showing where Christians go when they convert away from a…