On Jan. 22-25, the National Baptist Joint Board Session convened in Memphis, Tenn. The Joint Session is a meeting of the four predominantly African American Baptist conventions in the United States — National Baptist Convention USA, National Baptist Convention of…
BWIM transitions annual awards to scholarship program
An awards program to recognize outstanding Baptist women in ministry will transition this year to provide scholarships to female seminarians. The annual Addie Davis Awards given out by Baptist Women in Ministry for 25 years will become the Addie Davis…
AI ‘deep fakes’ are creating a new way of violating women’s privacy on the internet
Most people know of AI as a tool that will write papers, complete assignments or generate streams of content at the click of a button, like ChatGPT. Debates about the pros and cons of AI have been in conversation for…
Top news stories in 2023 were about Charles Stanley, women in ministry and fracturing of UMC
A 2022 story about the wealth of televangelist Charles Stanley drew more readership than any other Baptist News Global news article this year — outpacing even the later story of his death. Women in ministry, including the expulsion of Rick…
Rick Warren’s letter to the SBC was BNG’s most-read opinion piece in 2023
Rick Warren’s personal appeal to Southern Baptists about his battle with the Southern Baptist Convention over church autonomy and women in ministry was the most-read Baptist News Global opinion piece in 2023. The issue of patriarchy and women’s roles in…
Letter to the Editor: I was there when CBF was created, and I disagree with BNG analysis
December 5, 2023 Dear Editor: I was troubled and offended by Andrew Gardner’s article “On the SBC, Alliance and CBF and Other Lost Causes.” It was clearly an opinion article and he is entitled to his opinion, but some of his opinions…
As SBC moves toward second vote on Law Amendment, debate continues on just what it means
Just how restrictive will the Southern Baptist Convention become if messengers to next summer’s SBC annual meeting approve a second reading of a proposed constitutional amendment against women in ministry? It depends on who’s doing the explaining. One of the…
On the SBC, Alliance and CBF and lost causes
The histories we tell ourselves about our churches and denominations are important. They shape organizational identities and give greater meaning to the work churches and denominations conduct in the wider world. When those histories become deeply engrained, they can morph…
Saddleback and Fern Creek churches have left their state conventions
The two churches at the center of last summer’s debate over women in ministry in the Southern Baptist Convention have left their respective state Baptist conventions, which have heavy ties to the SBC. Saddleback Church, previously the largest church in…