Attending the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention is, in a word, exhausting. Why any Baptist — pastor or layman — would take several days of vacation time, travel at significant expense, read all the printed reports, participate in…
What was there left to argue?
I was 6 years old the first time I was told I couldn’t do something because I was a girl. I could be a teacher or a nurse when I grew up, but I couldn’t play on that team and I couldn’t do that thing because…
The ridiculous attack on women in ministry
As the president of another Kentucky-based seminary, I have to note Al Mohler’s forced conversation on women in ministry, like so much in our world today, is ridiculous. Those like Mohler wish to drag us into a debate about “what…
The denomination that protected predators just banned prophets
God calls women to preach. This is not a progressive talking point or a cultural accommodation. It is a theological fact, attested across centuries of Christian witness and confirmed in the lives of countless women who have heard the Spirit’s…
Come on, ring those bells
It may be true that no man is an island, but the Southern Baptist Convention is working hard to isolate itself from the world. After a decade of holding back the most strident far-right forces in the convention, this year…
Why I feel betrayed by the SBC
At the moment, words are hard to come by. As I sat in Palmetto Patriots VA Assisted Living and Skilled Nursing Home listening to one of my congregants share his experience of baptizing a soldier in a pool deep in…
Bulletin: Debate cut short on Mohler amendment
Update: The first reading of the constitutional amendment was approved by ballot vote, with 74.66% in favor and 25.09% against. The amendment must get a second vote of two-thirds approval at next year’s annual meeting to be adopted. Messengers…
Behind SBC’s missions agenda: Eternal conscious torment
The headlines each year going into the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting seem to focus on Southern Baptists’ latest attempts to put women in their place and keep them there. Whether they were voting to remove Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church…
Conservative reformers win SBC presidency
For the first time in 35 years, a reform candidate has been elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention, defeating an institutional candidate. Florida pastor Willy Rice — who withdrew from the presidential race in 2022 — won the presidency…
How can you afford not to? A Southern Baptist timeshare presentation
The first time I ever went to a Busch Gardens theme park, I was made to sit through a timeshare pitch. I still wasn’t old enough to sample the swill of the park’s namesake, so I admit to you I…
Praying for my Southern Baptist siblings about women in ministry
Baptists are a big part of my life story. If you are scratching your head about why this third generation, Methodist-all-her-life pastor would say such a thing, keep reading. Baptists are a big part of my story because I live…
The way we were
“Remember the days of old; consider the generations long past,” says Deuteronomy 32:7. Once upon a time, people who called themselves Southern Baptist had a firm conviction that they were autonomous churches cooperating with other churches of what we called…