Sunday before last in worship, we read from Genesis 3:8, a passage that says in the NRSV English translation: “They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and…
Pressler’s death brings overwhelming sadness
The formal death notice of Herman Paul Pressler III, a former Texas state appellate judge and the chief strategist behind a now 45-year rightward shift in the 14 million-member Southern Baptist Convention, hit me like a brick. For months, I…
What my grandparents would think of the Southern Baptist Convention today
In 1998, I spent the spring and summer in Rogers, Ark., with my grandparents. I had graduated from college the year before and was floundering, so hanging out for five months with my three living grandparents was a blessing even…
Here’s what you need to know to understand that SBC resolution opposing IVF
The Southern Baptist Convention has not always opposed abortion, and Southern Baptists have not always opposed in vitro fertilization. This week’s adoption of an anti-IVF resolution by messengers to the SBC annual meeting represents yet another rightward shift in the…
Don’t be lulled by the failure of the Law Amendment
The narrow failure of the Law Amendment to receive two-thirds affirmation at the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting should not give anyone a sense that women in ministry are welcome in the SBC. Nor should this vote — or any…
Dear Baptist women: ‘We see God’s image in you’
Baptist Women in Ministry offers appreciation to all the messengers of the Southern Baptist Convention who voted against the Law amendment because of their commitment to support and affirm women serving as pastors of all kinds in the SBC. We are grateful…
Ben Mandrell should take humility lessons from Bart Barber
I thought I had seen arrogance in Southern Baptist Convention agency heads in my 62 years of living, but I had not heard from Ben Mandrell until today. His cold-hearted arrogance speaking before the SBC annual meeting today is in…
Chair of SBC abuse task force explains why it is hard to get anything done
Because of the massive size of the Southern Baptist Convention, it is nearly impossible to bring about internal change. Nowhere is that more evident than in the failure of two consecutive sexual abuse reform task forces to bring meaningful change….
BWIM present in Indy as SBC votes on Law Amendment Wednesday
Representatives of Baptist Women in Ministry are in Indianapolis this week to push back against the anticipated ban of female pastors in the Southern Baptist Convention, Executive Director Meredith Stone said. Stone said she and two other BWIM staff members…