A Virginia church with deep historical ties to the Southern Baptist Convention will vote May 19 on a proposal to sever ties with the SBC due to the denomination’s intolerance for women serving as pastors. For decades, First Baptist Church…
There’s now half a dozen pastors vying to be SBC president
This summer’s Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting already was going to be one for the history books, and now there’s another reason for that distinction: A record six candidates have now announced their intention to run for the presidency of…
How evangelicals promoted, then abandoned environmental stewardship
Rising temperatures made 2023 earth’s hottest year on record. Climate scientists say human activity increases heat-trapping gasses that contribute to weather-related disasters, which in 2022 forced more than 3 million Americans from their homes and cost the world $360 billion…
Who’s an evangelical? New poll finds Southern Baptists separating from Christian nationalists on some points
The question of whether Southern Baptists should be counted among the nation’s conservative evangelicals is not a new one, but it is up for debate again thanks to results from a new Lifeway Research survey on faith and politics. That…
Bart Barber, a unicorn among SBC presidents, reflects on the state of the SBC as his term concludes
Bart Barber is a unicorn among recent Southern Baptist Convention presidents. And now he’s a lame duck, too. To participate in our interview by Zoom, Barber had to travel away from his North Texas farm. This is unlike any of…
Twelve things the SBC should do now to address clergy sex abuse
The four of us have watched with dismay as Southern Baptist Convention officials repeatedly proclaim “progress” on sexual abuse reform while, at the same time, taking 10 steps backward. They bail with a thimble — and make a show of…
Pence will speak at luncheon during SBC annual meeting
Former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence will speak at a luncheon during the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting in Indianapolis June 11. The former Indiana governor is a popular figure among many Southern Baptists, who identify among the conservative evangelical…
Al Mohler takes his ‘Ask Anything’ tour to Cobb County
When Al Mohler’s “Ask Anything” tour came to Cobb County, Ga., March 24, I went over to see what it’s all about. The president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has been on the road and online for several years fielding…
Iorg gets a unanimous vote, and he’ll need that to do what must be done
By a unanimous vote of the 60 trustees attending today’s called meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, longtime Gateway Seminary president and one-time Home Mission Board-appointed church planter Jeff Preston Iorg was elected chief executive officer of the Nashville-based administrative arm of the SBC. Today’s meeting marked…
Iorg elected unanimously to lead SBC Executive Committee
For the first time in two and a half years, the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee has a permanent staff leader. Jeff Iorg, president of Gateway Seminary in California, was unanimously elected president of the Executive Committee March 21 in…
Greenway files suit against Southwestern Seminary and former trustee chairman, claims Pattersons left president’s home in disrepair
Paige and Dorothy Patterson stripped the president’s home at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary upon their departure and left the 10,000-square-foot home in a state of disrepair, according to a new lawsuit filed against the seminary by former President Adam Greenway….
CBF North Carolina marks 30 years of cooperation with emphasis on ‘fellowship’
Thirty years ago, a group of North Carolina Baptists gathered to figure out a new way of working together as they were feeling less and less comfortable in their longstanding home, the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. Their historic…