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,...
Southern Baptists
Why have conservatives remained silent on the Southern Baptist abuse scandals?
Here is Paul Waldman at The Washington Post: There are few things that members of the American right emphasize more often about themselves than their deep commitment to protecting children — particularly when it comes to the threat of sexual...
Wehner: “No atheist has done this much damage to the Christian faith”
David August “Augie” Boto, a member of the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention, referred to outcries of sexual assault victims as part of a “satanic scheme” to “distract us from evangelism.” After reading the report, Boto may want...
A word to Southern Baptist culture warriors: Please shut your mouths and start dealing with the systemic immorality in your own house
I am guessing a lot of the Southern Baptist theobros and others will be upset with the title of this post. But it was all that came to mind after I received a note from an old friend from Bible...
More responses to the Southern Baptist sexual abuse report
We gathered some very early responses here. These are responses we have seen since Sunday night: JOURNALISM: Adelle Banks of Religion News Service has a timeline. Ruth Graham and Elizabeth Dias at The New York Times. Some nice context here....
Systemic immorality or just 700+ bad apples?
Shane Claiborne gets the tweet of the day: Context....
“The scale of malfeasance is truly shocking”
Michael Gerson responds to the Southern Baptist sexual abuse scandal. Here is a taste of his Washington Post column: In nearly 300 pages, a third-party investigator has produced the Warren Commission report, the 9/11 Commission report, of Southern Baptist Christianity. And the scale of...
The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee’s third-party abuse investigation report was just released. It’s horrifying.
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,...
More Southern Baptist drama
This comes from a blogger called “The Masked Baptist“: SBC entities work for the churches. Right? We thought so too. But what about when employees of an SBC Entity refuse to help stop the blackmail a Southern Baptist pastor and try to...
Albert Mohler responds to David Brooks’ essay on evangelical reformers
Writing at WORLD magazine, the latest imperial conquest of the fundamentalist fiefdom over which he presides, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary president Albert Mohler has responded to David Brooks’s recent New York Times piece on evangelical dissenters. Let’s break it down:...
Marvin Olasky discusses his resignation from World magazine
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...
Historian Thomas Kidd leaves Baylor for Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
I knew Tommy Kidd liked barbecue, but I was not expecting this. Here is the press release: Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary President Jason Allen has announced that historian Thomas S. Kidd will join Midwestern Seminary’s residential faculty as research professor...
Louisiana College is changing its name to Louisiana Christian University
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...
Ronnie Floyd resigns as President and CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee
Here is some context for Floyd’s resignation. Current received the following press release tonight: Dear SBC Executive Committee Trustees and SBC Family, I was planning to release this letter on Monday, October 11; however, I delayed the publishing of this letter...
National Review writer Kevin Williamson blasts the Southern Baptist Convention
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...
SBC messenger and Biden voter begs the president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary to unblock him on Twitter
My favorite moment from the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting so far:...
How Southern Baptists and others are responding to the election of Ed Litton as president of the convention
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...
Late afternoon Tuesday at the SBC Annual Meeting: elections, abortion, CRT, sexual abuse, leadership, and no air conditioning
The Southern Baptists voted for their next president earlier today. Kate Shellnut has the first ballot results: As we reported in our last post, Ed Litton, senior pastor of Redemption Church in Saraland, Alabama, is the new president. It was...
Ed Litton is the new president of the Southern Baptist Convention
Litton is the senior pastor of Redemption Church in Saraland, Alabama...
Tuesday early afternoon at the Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting
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...