Johnny Hunt is suing the Southern Baptist Convention, the SBC Executive Committee and Guidepost Solutions for defamation and invasion of privacy for making public the story of his “brief, inappropriate, extramarital encounter with a married woman” in 2010. Hunt is…
The SBC: ‘They are who we thought they were’
On October 16, 2006, the Chicago Bears came back to defeat the Arizona Cardinals 24-23. The game was considered the “comeback of the year” because the Bears were trailing by 20 points at halftime. What made the feat even greater…
Denny Burk pushes back against Rick Warren’s new understanding of women in ministry
Yes, women may have preached on the Day of Pentecost, but the “office of pastor” is reserved for men, a leading spokesman for complementarian theology said in response to Rick Warren’s recent explanation about why he changed his mind on…
Thirty years later, no one has reshaped the SBC more than Albert Mohler
Gallons of ink — physical and digital — have been spilled writing about the transformation of the Southern Baptist Convention at the hands of Paul Pressler and Paige Patterson. While they were, indeed, the architects of the “takeover” of the…
Scripture changed his mind on women in ministry, Rick Warren tells Russell Moore
The Great Commission is one of several scriptural reasons Rick Warren believes women are called by God to leadership in the church, he told Russell Moore in a March 8 podcast. Warren, recently retired pastor of Saddleback Church in Southern…
Why is the SBC so influential? Look at the number of congregations
If you want to understand why Southern Baptists are in the news so much, one simple chart produced by Ryan Burge might show the answer. The SBC counts 51,379 congregations in the United States, far more than any other denomination….
Now there’s a movement to bar women as worship leaders in churches
It may not be enough to keep women from preaching in church. They’re likely a danger leading music as well, according to an advocate for strict male leadership. On Feb. 27, Dale Partridge, president of Relearn.org and founder of Reformation…
SBC task force says Ministry Check website for sexual abuse will require cooperation
The Southern Baptist Convention’s new Ministry Check website will operate on the same principle that binds the denomination together — cooperation — according to the task force overseeing it. On Feb. 27, the SBC’s Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force released…
Think you’ve ‘decided’ about women in ministry? Here’s why there’s more to do
In my work advocating for women in ministry for more than a decade, there have been many instances in which a conversation with a male pastor or religious leader has included some form of the following: “Our church/organization decided about…
In the SBC, a cord of three is not easily broken: Debates about sexuality, gender and abuse all twist together
There’s only one thing Southern Baptist Convention conservatives get more upset about than women serving as pastors: The slightest affirmation of LGBTQ persons. This truth was borne out in the SBC over the last week as leaders sought to put…
Want to understand why the SBC expelled its largest church? Listen to W.A. Criswell
W.A. Criswell would be so proud of the Southern Baptist Convention this week. The man who once was the spokesman for why women should not — cannot — be pastors has reached peak influence 114 years after his birth. About…
Benkert resigns SBC task force amid criticism for reporting two churches that platformed accused sexual abuser
An Indiana pastor who reported two congregations to the Southern Baptist Convention’s Credentials Committee for platforming accused sexual abuser Johnny Hunt has resigned from the SBC’s Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force. Todd Benkert’s sudden resignation from the task force came…