It was 1989 and I had taken a class called Just Peacemaking taught by Glenn H. Stassen. For those of you not familiar with Stassen, he was a nuclear physicist turned theologian turned ethics professor at the Southern Baptist Theological…
My ordination is precious to me
When the Southern Baptist Convention voted last week to reaffirm its expulsion of churches with women pastors on staff and to begin the process of amending its constitution to make sure any member congregation “does not affirm, appoint or employ…
Remember that time three women won the preaching award at Southern Seminary?
In a previous essay, I reflected on the harrowing of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary that happened in the shift in administrations from President Roy Honeycutt to President Al Mohler, 30 years ago in 1993. Readers’ comments on that column reported…
The generational pain and hope of the Southern Baptist witch trials
I was born in 1993 in the same month that, just a state away, Al Mohler was being elected to replace Roy Honeycutt as president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Both my parents attended and graduated from Southern in the…
The lion, the witch-hunt and the boardroom: Reflections 30 years after the harrowing of Southern Seminary
In December 1992, I graduated from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. It was the last full year of Roy Honeycutt’s storied career as president of Southern Baptists’ first seminary. It has been 30 years since the transition to…
Sills files suit against SBC and 11 other defendants, claiming his relationship with Lyell was consensual and he became a ‘scapegoat’ in the SBC’s sexual abuse crisis
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…
Becoming a ‘midwife of grace’ — an interview with Molly Marshall
At age 12, Molly Marshall’s pastor asked if she’d ever considered working with young people as a career option. She thought to herself, “Well of course I haven’t, I am one!” Two years later, at age 14, while at a…
Wait a minute: There’s yet another twist in the Southwestern story
Whatever deal trustees of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary made with the president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board to give Adam Greenway a safe harbor appears to have fallen through. Greenway, who resigned as Southwestern’s president last Thursday…
Racial justice: apology without restitution, lamentation without transformation
We must not only deal with the ongoing effects of atrocities, we must also change society itself. Lamentations may acknowledge sorrow over atrocities committed, but they do not repair the harm nor transform the world.