I haven’t found the right adjective to describe how it feels to find my church and my picture on the list of Baptist churches circulating as evidence that the Southern Baptist Convention should change its constitution to disfellowship churches with…
New court documents show First Baptist Houston leaders knew of allegations against Pressler in 2004
Leaders of First Baptist Church of Houston knew about Paul Pressler’s alleged inappropriate sexual activity with young men in 2004, according to correspondence from the church to Pressler obtained by the Texas Tribune. Journalist Robert Downen, writing for the Tribune,…
How dare they publish that list
I was furious. I still am furious. I had heard only the day before about a list compiled and being circulated among members of the Southern Baptist Convention detailing more than 170 churches where women serve as pastors. The list…
Advocates for constitutional ban on female ‘pastors’ in SBC publish a list of 170 churches they deem in violation
A proposed constitutional amendment to bar any Southern Baptist Convention church from giving a woman the title “pastor” gained steam — and opposition — this week with publication of a list of 170 SBC churches said to have women serving…
Karen Swallow Prior to leave Southeastern Seminary
One of the highest-profile faculty members at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary announced via Twitter March 20 she will resign at the end of the current semester and has no other job lined up. Karen Swallow Prior, research professor of English…
Two days after filing suit against SBC, ‘Pastor Johnny’ was preaching in Georgia
Two days after filing a defamation lawsuit against the Southern Baptist Convention and Guidepost Solutions, Johnny Hunt was in the pulpit Sunday, March 19, preaching an hour-long sermon at one of the congregations that has stood by him amid allegations…
‘Pastor Johnny’ sues the SBC and Guidepost
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….