What roles should women fill in Southern Baptist churches? Worship leader? Youth minister? Senior pastor? A group of Southern Baptists is convinced women who feel called to be pastors must have misunderstood God’s voice. These Southern Baptists will try to…
Rick Warren apologizes to women for his previous views on church leadership
In the runup to the biggest theological fight of his life this week, Rick Warren has issued a public apology to “Christian women.” “My biggest regret in 53 years of ministry is that I didn’t do my own personal exegesis…
Dear Southern Baptists, if ‘all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy,’ then listen to all of Scripture
When messengers from churches of the Southern Baptist Convention assemble in New Orleans for their annual meeting this week, they will consider an appeal from Saddleback Church of California to reverse its expulsion over the ordination of female ministers. (See…
The rhetorical genius of Rick Warren
I look forward to Rick Warren addressing the Southern Baptist Convention at its annual meeting in New Orleans, June 13-14. Warren deserves more credit for his decision to publicly dissent from the SBC ruling expelling the church he founded from…
Is Rick Warren reviving the fight against the fundamentalist takeover of the SBC?
Rick Warren announced a couple of weeks ago that he will appeal the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee’s decision to disfellowship Saddleback Church. In the past few days, Warren has grabbed a bullhorn and “taken to the streets,” so to…
An open letter to all Southern Baptists
Editor’s Note: Rick Warren published this open letter Friday, June 2, and sent it to various media outlets, including BNG. Rather than write a news story about the letter, we decided to run the full letter as an opinion piece….
A primer on why Southern Baptists are fighting over women in ministry once again
Casual observers might have thought the Southern Baptist Convention settled its position on women in ministry 30 years ago. Turns out, that’s not the case at all. An issue that was explosive for the SBC during the heyday of its…
Tim Keller was a really nice guy, but that wasn’t enough for everyone
The one thing everyone who interacted with him seems to agree on is this: Tim Keller was a heckuva nice guy. So nice, some say, it’s hard to believe he was a conservative evangelical. So nice, others say, he caved…
Rick Warren outlines five reasons Saddleback will challenge its expulsion from SBC
Rick Warren and Saddleback Church plan to vigorously object to their expulsion from the Southern Baptist Convention at the SBC annual meeting next month in New Orleans. Warren, who was founding pastor of the Southern California megachurch and recently retired,…
Her church
I haven’t been able to get the book Her Country by Marissa Moss out of my brain since reading the “State of Women in Baptist Life,” released in 2022. The book explores the decline of women on country radio through…
Confessions of a female Baptist pastor
I read the letter Pastor Mike Law wrote and it was a waste of my time. I knew it would be, but I just wanted to feel angry all over again because it feels good until it doesn’t. Same stuff,…
Women preaching the gospel? Yes, please
This is the week upon which the entire Christian religion hinges: the death and resurrection of Jesus, the two observances that most fully embody the hope of God’s saving grace to humanity. In the celebration of Easter, the Christian story…