Ralph D. West Sr. does more for race relationships by walking into a diverse room than many of us will do in a lifetime trying to help. My friend Ralph has merely to be present in a group of Blacks…
Another prominent Black Baptist pastor publicly quits the SBC
For the second time in two days, a prominent Black pastor has publicly quit the Southern Baptist Convention over its seminary presidents’ campaign against Critical Race Theory. “I keep hearing the words of Harriet Tubman: ‘We out,’” said Charlie Dates,…
Why are SBC seminary presidents rejecting Critical Race Theory if they teach about Jesus and the prophets who denounced injustice?
This article is part of a series on Critical Race Theory published throughout the month of December. See the links below for previous articles in the series. On Nov. 30, 2020, presidents of the six seminaries affiliated with the Southern…
SBC seminary presidents are ‘complicit with evil,’ revered California pastor says
J. Alfred Smith Sr. is not happy with the six Southern Baptist Convention presidents, who recently issued a declaration against Critical Race Theory. “They are more afraid of Critical Race Theory than the ugly racism that has our democracy about…
Is it time for Black Christians to give up on the SBC?
This is the second in a series of opinion columns to be published over the next three weeks exploring Critical Race Theory. The Southern Baptist Convention has managed to do it again! As the nation struggles through a pandemic that…
SBC seminary presidents are propagating fear to maintain control
This is the first in a series of opinion columns to be published over the next three weeks exploring Critical Race Theory. Earlier this month, all six presidents of the seminaries controlled by the Southern Baptist Convention announced a total…
Baptists and the rising tide of authoritarianism
One common thread that runs through most of the supporters of President Donald Trump is authoritarianism. “Politics makes odd bedfellows,” the saying goes; and the taste for authoritarianism has drawn together an unlikely crowd. Many people crave a “strongman” leader,…
Do Southern Baptists need a rebranding?
In the midst of a turbulent summer of police violence against Black Americans, the pressure for institutional fixtures of American society to examine the legacies of their names never has been greater. Now the Southern Baptist Convention, according to the…
‘Disremembering’ our history: Pastor John Onwuchekwa, the SBC and the rest of us
“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” — James Baldwin I first learned of the ministry of Rev. John Onwuchekwa, lead pastor at Cornerstone Church, Atlanta, when a friend sent…