By Bob Allen A former youth minister at a Southern Baptist church in Texas is free on $100,000 bond following his arrest on charges of inappropriate contact with female victims under the age of 17. Local media report that Joshua…
Former ‘cowboy’ pastor sentenced
By Bob Allen A former Southern Baptist “cowboy church” pastor was sentenced to 50 years in prison without the possibility of parole after a Texas jury found him guilty April 5 of continuous sexual abuse of a child. According to…
Former Baptist pastor indicted
By Bob Allen A 71-year-old former Southern Baptist minister has been indicted by a grand jury in northern Mississippi on 18 felony counts of child sexual abuse. The Democrat newspaper in Senatobia, Miss., reported March 26 that Larry Gene Singleton,…
Saying ‘no’ to violence against women
By Cindy Ring Ruble We live in a world in which one in three women will be raped or beaten in her lifetime. That statistic represents about 1 billion women. Think of three women and girls in your life and…
Former youth minister pleads guilty
By Bob Allen A former youth minister at a Southern Baptist church in Maryland pleaded guilty March 20 to sexually abusing a 15-year-old girl attending the congregation’s vacation Bible school. Walter Harrison Yocum, 35, pleaded guilty to a single count…
Pastor says let God judge accusers
By Bob Allen The pastor of a Texas Baptist megachurch, questioned about the handling of a staff member 24 years ago who was recently convicted of sex crimes in another state, noted in his Sunday sermon March 17 that Jesus…
Church defends calling cops on member
By Bob Allen A Southern Baptist megachurch claims it called police on a longtime church member not for questioning how church leaders handled a matter of sexual abuse two decades ago, but for posting threatening messages on Twitter. “When it…
Church calls cops on inquiring member
By Bob Allen A Southern Baptist megachurch reportedly filed a police report on a church member who raised questions about news stories alleging that nearly 25 years ago leaders of the congregation failed to alert authorities about credible accusations of…
Rising stress boosts clergy depression
By Jeff Brumley Bryan Hatcher was a Baptist pastor once, so he gets it when ministers buckle under the strain of long work weeks, budget pressures and that feeling of constantly being in a fish bowl. And because he has…