Southern Baptists spent their annual meeting debating how tight the doctrinal boundaries should be around the denomination’s fellowship. Sexual abusers are out. But so are members of the LGBTQ community and those who support them. Women pastors are out, although a…
Breaking news: It will be a four-way race for SBC president
Just hours before the nomination of candidates for the position of president of the Southern Baptist Convention, a fourth candidate emerged. Frank Cox, pastor of North Metro Baptist Church in Lawrenceville, Ga., will join Florida pastor Tom Ascol, Texas pastor…
In early contests, Conservative Baptist Network loses SBC leadership posts
In the preliminaries to the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting, candidates backed by the Conservative Baptist Network June 13 were turned back in every attempt to gain leadership. Whether that trend will continue on the opening day of the SBC…
Bill Self in 1984: ‘Babylonian Captivity of the Convention’
Editor’s note: In 1984, the Southern Baptist Convention met in Kansas City for what was the sixth year of the so-called “conservative resurgence” that in time captured the leadership structure of the SBC and turned it rightward. The next year,…
Unexpected $4 million gift takes away one criticism of SBC response to sexual abuse
Concerns about using church offering money to fund a response to the problem of sexual abuse in the Southern Baptist Convention seemed to disappear June 8 when $4 million was pledged to the cause. Technically, some of that money still…
Faced with damning sexual abuse investigation, some in SBC seek to discredit the investigators
One week before Southern Baptists gather to respond to a damning independent investigation of sexual abuse problems, the lead story on the denomination’s news site is about “controversy” created by Guidepost Solutions tweeting support for Pride month. Guidepost is the…
Letter to the Editor: It’s time for the SBC to have a funeral
June 8, 2022 Letter to the Editor Dear Editor: The only honorable thing to do at this point for the Southern Baptist Convention is to bury it. Have a funeral. No, really. Have an actual funeral with songs of lament,…
What Southern Baptists must do now to address clergy sex abuse
Editor’s note: After this article was published, the SBC Sexual Abuse Task Force pulled its June 1 set of recommendations from the website. Those recommendations eventually were replaced by an updated document June 8 that now exists in the same…
Some action items emerge from SBC sexual abuse crisis, but is it too little and too slow?
The Southern Baptist Convention’s Sexual Abuse Task Force has issued a series of responses to the recent Guidepost Solutions investigation that range from suggestions to two action items to be considered by messengers to the SBC annual meeting this summer….