A former Southern Baptist seminary professor and his wife have filed suit against the Southern Baptist Convention and 11 other defendants claiming defamation of character and conspiracy in the well-publicized sexual abuse case of Jennifer Lyell. The lawsuit challenges what…
The abusers in the pews
My abuser wasn’t a pastor. Still, he was a “good Christian man” by all appearances. He went to church every Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night. No one would have suspected a thing, and I wasn’t talking. Lately, we’ve…
FBC Woodstock says it is ‘incorrect’ that Johnny Hunt will lead a men’s conference there next February
After resigning from a Southern Baptist Convention leadership position in June due to previous sexual impropriety, Johnny Hunt planned to return to his former church to lead a conference on biblical living for men. Whether First Baptist Church of Woodstock,…
Letter to the Editor: ‘60 Minutes’ and the questions not asked
Letter to the Editor October 10, 2022 Dear Editor: Anderson Cooper’s “60 Minutes” interview of Bart Barber began on a hopeful note. Asked if he believed the 2020 presidential election was stolen, the Southern Baptist Convention president answered: “No.” Asked…
Why can’t churches get handling abuse right?
Yet another evangelical megachurch is repenting for mishandling clergy sex abuse. Every few days, it seems, we’re hearing about a different instance of a pastor or church leader who has abused women and/or children and a church (or denomination) that…
Seven years later, Will McRaney might get his day in court against NAMB — maybe
Seven years after he was fired as the leader of a Baptist state convention, Will McRaney may finally get his day in court against the Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board. After years of legal wrangling, a new trial…
Former Bellevue youth pastor ‘credibly accused of abusing adolescents’ at Baptist church in Arkansas
A former youth pastor at one of the Southern Baptist Convention’s flagship churches was arrested last week on one charge of sexual indecency with a child, according to a report in the Memphis Commercial-Appeal. Keenan Hord, 32, worked at a…
More questions than answers right now regarding DOJ investigation into SBC
As news spread late last Friday that the U.S. Department of Justice has opened an investigation into the Southern Baptist Convention regarding sexual abuse, many more questions than answers swirled about. And while the DOJ itself has neither confirmed nor…
Department of Justice investigating SBC on sexual abuse
The U.S. Department of Justice has launched a criminal investigation into allegations of sexual abuse within the Southern Baptist Convention, the SBC Executive Committee confirmed late Friday, Aug. 12. The scope and focus of the investigation were not made public,…