Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, 21 Republican-led states have passed restrictions and/or outright bans on women receiving elective abortions. The most stringent of these laws may be found in the state of Texas, whose state legislature…
My last visit to a Southern Baptist church
My first visit to a Southern Baptist church occurred in 1971, when I was 15 years old. My family had just moved from Alamogordo, N.M., to my parent’s hometown of Muskogee, Okla. On my first Sunday in town, my aunt,…
Prominent Arkansas SBC church accused of hiding knowledge of former staff member’s abuse of child
A former Southern Baptist children’s minister accused of child sexual abuse has asked an Arkansas court to seal his record, an effort critics say would hinder other potential victims from coming forward. Meanwhile, the Southern Baptist church where he last…
Here’s the lie exposed: There are no medical exemptions to Texas abortion law
This article was updated Dec. 12 with additional information as the case developed. For months, advocates of the new law that bans almost all abortions in Texas have been telling us there is an exemption for medically necessary terminations…
Letter to the Editor: I was there when CBF was created, and I disagree with BNG analysis
December 5, 2023 Dear Editor: I was troubled and offended by Andrew Gardner’s article “On the SBC, Alliance and CBF and Other Lost Causes.” It was clearly an opinion article and he is entitled to his opinion, but some of his opinions…
SBC Executive Committee files amicus brief supporting NAMB against Will McRaney
The Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention has weighed in with a legal brief defending the SBC North American Mission Board in a defamation lawsuit brought against NAMB by Will McRaney, former leader of the Baptist Convention of Maryland…
‘It was futile … nothing will change’
“Apology.” That was the subject heading. It was an email from a member of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Sexual Abuse Task Force, the committee that was created in the summer of 2021 and given a one-year term to oversee a…
As SBC moves toward second vote on Law Amendment, debate continues on just what it means
Just how restrictive will the Southern Baptist Convention become if messengers to next summer’s SBC annual meeting approve a second reading of a proposed constitutional amendment against women in ministry? It depends on who’s doing the explaining. One of the…
On the SBC, Alliance and CBF and lost causes
The histories we tell ourselves about our churches and denominations are important. They shape organizational identities and give greater meaning to the work churches and denominations conduct in the wider world. When those histories become deeply engrained, they can morph…
‘Pastor Johnny’ wins a bid to unseal Guidepost documents
Of the more than two dozen legal cases currently pending in courts against the Southern Baptist Convention or its entities, one takes particular aim at the work of Guidepost Solutions, the independent researcher that produced the scathing report of mishandled…
Judge rules discovery may continue in Sillses’ lawsuit against SBC parties
One of the multiple lawsuits currently pending against the Southern Baptist Convention and its various agencies got a green light to continue Nov. 22, despite objections that the case is “frivolous” and legal discovery could cause harm. U.S. District Judge…
Pressler’s former law partner, accused of knowing about abuse, is running for Texas House
Paul Pressler’s former law partner, who has been accused of knowing about the Baptist powerbroker’s alleged abuse of young men and not reporting it, is running for the Texas House of Representatives and aspires to become speaker of the House,…