True confession: I have something in common with Adron Robinson. I, too, have chaired a failed search committee. But my experience was on a local-church level, not on a national denominational level. Nevertheless, I have more empathy for the chair…
SBC Executive Committee rejects nominee for president
In an unprecedented historical moment, trustees of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee have rejected — by a wide margin — the nominee to become president of the powerful SBC coordinating group. Jared Wellman, pastor of Tate Springs Baptist Church…
A storm is brewing ahead of the purported nomination of an SBC Executive Committee president on Monday
This story was updated Sunday afternoon, April 30, to include information published by Baptist Press. The nominee to become president of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee has drawn public opposition over the weekend even before his nomination was publicly…
SBC plans to release list of known sexual abusers in churches, refutes its own former general counsel
The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, hit hard by an independent investigation of mishandling of sexual abuse claims over the past two decades, wants to release a secret file with the names of 703 alleged clergy abusers, has repudiated a…
Against the odds, the SBC is experiencing a double-digit increase in giving
On the heels of a global pandemic and amid its own multi-faceted schism, the Southern Baptist Convention is experiencing something few could have predicted: Financial gifts to the SBC for the 2021-2022 fiscal year are up — way up. The…
SBC Executive Committee publicly apologizes to sexual abuse survivor
In a stunning reversal of course, the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee acknowledged its own mishandling of a report of sexual abuse and publicly apologized to the survivor in a statement by Chairman Rolland Slade Feb. 22. That statement was…
Litton and McLaurin urge SBC Executive Committee toward compassion and Christlikeness
The Southern Baptist Convention must address its “stains” of racism and tolerating sexual abuse, President Ed Litton told members of the SBC Executive Committee Monday night, Feb. 21. He spoke just hours after a group of sexual abuse survivors held…
Willie McLaurin appointed interim Executive Committee president, becoming the SBC’s first-ever Black entity head
Willie McLaurin, Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee vice president for Great Commission relations and mobilization, has been appointed interim president and CEO of the Executive Committee. The appointment came 10 days before the four-month mark of Ronnie Floyd’s resignation from…