Some of you may remember that the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) ousted Fern Creek Baptist Church earlier this year because the church had a female pastor. The Louisville congregation, located in the same city as Albert Mohler’s complementarian Southern Baptist...
I’ll let religion journalist Bob Smietana explain: Willie McLaurin, the acting president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee, resigned suddenly on Thursday after admitting he had falsified his rĂ©sumĂ©. “While considering McLaurin as a candidate for Floyd’s permanent replacement,...
Here is Kate Shellnut at Christianity Today: The issue that once dominated Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) annual meetings—sexual abuse in churches—almost receded into the background at this year’s gathering, which was overrun by debates around women serving as pastors. Only...
Some of the best religion reporters in the business are in New Orleans this week. Here is what they have to say about what happened on the first day of the meeting. These tweets are (roughly) in chronological order (morning...
Charles Stanley died last week. He was the senior pastor of Atlanta Baptist Church for nearly half a century, a television preacher, and a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention. Over at Get Religion, veteran religion journalist Terry Mattingly...
Here is the Associated Press: The Southern Baptist Convention on Tuesday ousted its second-largest congregation — Saddleback Church, the renowned California megachurch founded by pastor and best-selling author Rick Warren — for having a woman pastor. The vote by the convention’s Executive Committee...
Randall Balmer, a Dartmouth religion professor and one of the country’s most prominent religious observers, addresses the Southern Baptist sexual abuse report. Here is a taste of his piece at the Los-Angeles Times: In an origin story oft-repeated in SBC circles,...
Here is Kate Shellnut at Christianity Today: Armed with a secret list of more than 700 abusive pastors, Southern Baptist leaders chose to protect the denomination from lawsuits rather than protect the people in their churches from further abuse. Survivors,...
We covered this here and here. Here is Bob Smietana at Religion News Service: Olasky had hoped to end his tenure as editor-in-chief, which began in 1994, in the summer of 2022. Those plans changed after World’s publisher announced the...
The Southern Baptist College in Pineville, Louisiana is changing its name. Here is the Associated Press: Louisiana College in Pineville will formally announce its new name — Louisiana Christian University — on Nov. 16 during a meeting of the Louisiana...
Here is Williamson on Albert Mohler’s failed campaign for president of the Southern Baptist Convention: Ed Litton, a moderate reformer, has been elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention — and the Reverend R. Albert Mohler has been served his...
My favorite moment from the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting so far:...
We also included some initial reaction to Litton’s election in this post. Litton is, relatively speaking, a “moderate.” That means he wants to work for racial reconciliation, does not want to condemn critical race theory, and embraces the Baptist Faith...
Litton is the senior pastor of Redemption Church in Saraland, Alabama...
I am trying to follow things in Nashville. Here are some tweets from Tuesday (June 15, 2021) early afternoon. The presidential election will take place later this afternoon. The messengers seem to be consistently rebuking the Executive Committee’s resolutions. Read Dominic...
I am trying to follow things in Nashville. Here are some tweets from Tuesday (June 15, 2021) morning: Yesterday (June 14, 2021): Today (June 15): Will it be a stolen election? 🙂...
What is going on in Evangelicalland? The Southern Baptists are converging on Nashville this week. Here are some links to help you put the annual meeting in context: Sarah Pulliam Bailey has a helpful piece on what is at stake....
This was bound to happen sooner or later. Russell Moore, the president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, is leaving his post to head-up a new public theology program at Christianity Today. There are a lot...
The debate over critical race theory continues to divide the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). Last November, the presidents of the six denominational seminaries published a statement declaring that critical race theory is incompatible with Southern Baptist theology. In response to...
