Baptists - Baptist Standard: Recent Episodes
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The National Hispanic Baptist Network has elevated its executive director, Bruno Molina, from a part-time role to a new full-time role to oversee the organization’s diverse offering of support to Hispanic churches and leaders across the Southern Baptist Convention.
George Liele, a former slave, not only was the first ordained African American Baptist preacher in America, but also was the world’s first Baptist missionary.
The loss of a rule that prevented officials from entering churches to arrest immigrants accused of being in the United States illegally has hurt the church’s witness, the National Hispanic Baptist Network said Jan. 29 in calling for the rule’s reinstatement.
Jeff Dalrymple of Jacksonville, Fla., has been named to lead the office within the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee dedicated to Southern Baptists’ long-term efforts in sexual abuse prevention and response.
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary released on Jan. 17 the institution’s most recent Composite Financial Index score of +3.0, which President David Dockery called an “objective” metric that “quantifies the significant progress made in the past 28 months.”
Southern California churches have been praying in the midst of the devastating fires in their area, and the answer to a specific Sunday evening prayer has been noticed and appreciated by others in the community.
Evangelist and author Daniel Ritchie will be nominated for first vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention during the 2025 SBC annual meeting in Dallas.
Trucks and trailers rolled out of Texans on Mission headquarters in Dallas early on Jan. 15 to support California churches responding to devastating wildfires.
Boise Kimber officially was installed as president of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., during the midwinter board meeting of the predominantly Black denomination—which he hopes will become more inclusive of women and young leaders.
A four-person Texans on Mission team is in California working to multiply the ministry of churches and chart a long-term relief effort in the area devastated by raging fires.
In an eclectic New Orleans ministerial mix, a second line jazz band belted gospel favorites in the footsteps of pastors prayerwalking Bourbon Street hours after the carnage of a New Year’s Day terrorist attack was cleared.
A life on mission must begin somewhere. For several University of Mary Hardin-Baylor students, it began this December with Texans on Mission in North Carolina.
Mission trips often reveal contrasts—differences between things at home and those far away. Mikey Osborne and his family saw Christmas differently on a recent trip to Uganda.
The Southern Baptist Convention’s Cooperative Program stands at a crossroads as its 100th birthday approaches.
Tony Campolo, an American Baptist minister and sociologist who spent decades trying to convince evangelicals and other Christians that their faith should motivate them to address social ills like poverty and racism, has died. He was 89.
Three weeks after pleading guilty to a charge of making false statements to federal investigators as part of a sexual abuse investigation stemming from his time as a seminary administrator, Matt Queen has resigned as pastor of Friendly Avenue Baptist Church, the church announced Nov. 8.
Thanks to an ongoing project of the Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives, listeners today can hear recordings of Baptist radio programs featuring some of the great preachers of the 20th century.
A defamation trial involving the Southern Baptist Convention that was supposed to begin next week has been delayed indefinitely, while another is set for 2026.
Registration for next summer’s Crossover Dallas evangelistic outreach emphasis is open.
On a warm Florida day, Eunice eats lunch with her neighbor, Jackie. They laugh and smile as they tell jokes and stories.
As Chaplain Major General Randy Kitchens thinks back over more than 30 years of chaplaincy ministry in the U.S. Air Force, it’s the opportunities he had to share Jesus that stand out.
Congregants at Conetoe Chapel Missionary Baptist Church thought their pastor was crazy when he suggested his rural community take up farming.
Matt Queen, a former professor at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary pleaded guilty Oct. 16 to lying to the FBI during an investigation into sexual abuse.
More than 25 Texans on Mission teams—supplemented by local volunteers and out-of-state church mission teams—have focused on meeting needs in parts of Florida, Tennessee and North Carolina after Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton.
The Black Church Collective is seeking to create a collaborative evangelistic and missions table for the larger National African American Fellowship of 4,000 churches and the smaller fellowships and numerous other contingencies from the African diaspora.
Texans on Mission sent key disaster relief equipment to Florida this week in advance of Hurricane Milton’s landfall. The Dallas-based ministry now is seeking more volunteers to respond to what has become a two-hurricane disaster.
Texans on Mission's Deep East Texas flood recovery team served residents of Morgan City, La., following Hurricane Francine.
Court-ordered mediation between a former Southern Baptist Convention president and lawyers for the nation’s largest Protestant denomination failed last week, meaning the dispute between the two parties likely is headed to a trial in November.
The Baptist Faith and Message soon could be more difficult to amend. That’s a good thing, said the Southern Baptist Convention messenger whose motion this summer in Indianapolis helped initiate the change.
Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee trustees on Sept. 17 approved a recommendation to create a department within the Executive Committee to assist churches in the area of sexual abuse prevention and response.
The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee reported it has spent more than $12.1 million on the 2021-2022 Guidepost Solutions investigation into its handling of sexual abuse claims and subsequent legal expenses dating back to 2021.
The Southern Baptist Convention is a diverse, cooperative “force for good” that is poised to move forward on mission, Jeff Iorg said at his installation as the eighth president of the SBC Executive Committee Sept. 16 in Nashville.
The staff of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission heard an official word of affirmation Sept. 11 with the release of a statement approved by the agency’s board of trustees in a two-hour executive session.
Former Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary President Adam W. Greenway dropped his defamation lawsuit against his former employer without any financial settlement.
After an unusual election that gave voters the choice on the ballot of a name or a “no,” members of the National Baptist Convention, USA, lined up behind a new president, Pastor Boise Kimber of First Calvary Baptist Church in New Haven, Conn.
The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee announced a reorganization of executive-level leadership roles on Sept. 3, a little less than three months after Jeff Iorg became president and CEO.
As the annual session of the National Baptist Convention, USA, the historically Black denomination, opened Sept. 3, the biggest question that loomed is how the meeting will end. Will it have a new president or not?
Texans on Mission Builders spent much of August in the cooler temperature of Aspendale Mountain Retreat Center.
Dozens of key Baptist leaders—including Julio Guarneri, executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas—gathered for a kickoff to begin preparations for the 2025 Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Dallas.
Days before the start of a new school year, college students and leaders gathered at Falls Creek Conference Center in Oklahoma to learn how to live on mission and become passionate followers of Jesus.
A health care triad—including a Baptist hospital, a rural clinic and a nursing college—in East Java is reaching far beyond the island’s, and even the country’s, borders.
Baptist General Convention of Texas and North American Mission Board representatives met at the Texas Baptists’ offices Aug. 15.
Lott Carey, a predominantly Black Baptist missions organization, has received a $1 million donation from a Virginia megachurch, boosting its efforts to help girls in Africa.
Working alongside local churches for Olympics outreach will help strengthen partnerships, mobilize local believers and fuel future church planting efforts in Paris and beyond.
The Baptist World Alliance named Tim McCoy, former executive minister of Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Québec, as director of its new Global NxtGen Leadership Initiative.
Volunteers spent the week of Aug. 3-10 volunteering with various civic organizations as part of ServeNC, a statewide project launched this year by the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina.
Marie Beam said she’s always liked working on cars. She found out early on that she didn’t like being stranded.
International Mission Board missionaries Charlie and Robin Janney coordinated an eight-person medical team who journeyed to Mexico's southern border to offer care to migrants, refugees and displaced peoples.
As he stepped up into the old-fashioned wooden pulpit on a recent Sunday, Pastor Clint Pressley wasted no time.
The Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board mobilized more than 300 short-term volunteers who are hitting the streets of Paris, sharing the gospel during the 2024 Summer Olympic Games.
An Aug. 2 statement from the executive committee of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission affirms the group’s support for Brent Leatherwood as president and leader of the Southern Baptist Convention entity, saying its work is more important now than ever.
The SBC’s ERLC has faced decades of discontent from Southern Baptists. Just ask former ERLC president Richard Land.
Matt Queen’s attorney has requested the prosecutor release ‘a limited number of documents’ he believes supports Queen’s defense.
Former ERLC chair Kevin Smith issued an apology for acting without a “formal vote of the Executive Committee” to remove Brent Leatherwood.
The beleaguered ERLC announced the firing of its president Brent Leatherwood before retracting that announcement hours later.
Baptists and other Christians offered prayers and pleas for peace in the aftermath of the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a July 13 campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
The 39th annual meeting of the Vietnamese Baptist Union of North America drew more than 1,300 participants for worship, workshops, fellowship and business.
The California Southern Baptist announced it had cut six staff jobs, citing an ongoing decline in giving.
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges has continued its accreditation warning for Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Paul Pressler, a retired Texas judge and one of the most influential evangelicals of the past 50 years, has died.
Messengers presented 50 motions at the 2024 Southern Baptist Convention annual neeting and acted on several, rejecting calls to abolish the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and censure Southern Baptist leaders.
Clint Pressley, a North Carolina megachurch pastor known for a conservative but even-keel approach to leadership and who does not wear jeans in the pulpit, was elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention.
After extensive debate, messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention approved resolutions about integrity in leadership, religious liberty, support for Israel and in vitro fertilization.
The North American Mission Board will not fund church starts in partnership with the Baptist General Convention of Texas unless Texas Baptists change their statement of faith.
Leaders of a volunteer task force charged with implementing abuse reforms in the nation’s largest Protestant denomination say they were given an impossible task. In the end, the task proved too much.
A constitutional amendment barring churches that employ female pastors from the Southern Baptist Convention failed to receive the necessary two-thirds approval at the SBC annual meeting.
Jeff Iorg was ready to retire from the presidency of Gateway Seminary and spend more time with family when he was approached about seeking the presidency of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.
Messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting adopted six recommendations proposed by the Great Commission Resurgence Evaluation Task Force with one amendment.
Messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting overwhelmingly voted to declare a Virginia church that supports women in pastoral roles as out of “friendly cooperation” with the SBC.
Former Vice President Mike Pence addressed Southern Baptists at a luncheon event focused on public service where he criticized President Joe Biden, questioned the future of the Republican Party and upheld faith as the answer for the country’s problems.
Astronaut Charlie Duke, the youngest man to ever step on the moon, carried an emblem of the Woman’s Missionary Union pin to the moon and back in 1972, Executive Director-Treasurer Sandy Wisdom-Martin told participants at the WMU missions celebration.
A Virginia church has disclosed an inquiry it reportedly received April 8 from the Southern Baptist Convention Credentials Committee regarding the church’s employment of a female pastor.
A volunteer task force charged with implementing abuse reforms in the Southern Baptist Convention will end its work next week without a single name published on a database of abusers.
After meeting with church music leaders, Lifeway Christian Resources announced its commitment to continue operating lifewayworship.com.
Final recommendations from the Southern Baptist Convention Great Commission Resurgence Evaluation Task Force address areas of statistical reporting to and from Southern Baptist churches.
The chief ethicist for the Southern Baptist Convention wants the federal government to clamp down on in-vitro fertilization, saying it causes harm to children and their mothers.
A North Carolina Baptist church has suspended its pastor after he was indicted on allegations of giving false records to the FBI.
Former Southwestern Seminary interim provost Matthew Queen issued a statement through his attorney May 22 asserting his innocence of federal charges brought through a Department of Justice investigation.
A former Southern Baptist seminary professor and interim provost has been indicted on a charge of obstructing justice in a sexual misconduct case, the Department of Justice announced May 21.
With the current count standing at six nominees for president of the SBC, here is a bullet-point guide of where they stand on key issues.
Did the Great Commission Resurgence accomplish its goal of reversing the decline of baptisms in the Southern Baptist Convention? According to the final report from a task force commissioned to answer that question, “The answer is a clear and decisive, ‘No.’”
Total membership among Southern Baptist Convention churches dipped below 13 million for the first time since the 1970s, continuing a 17-year decline. However, the decline of less than 2 percent was the smallest in recent years.
The appeal of the dismissal of a civil suit against Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and its former president, Paige Patterson, now involves the Texas Supreme Court.
Four recommendations released May 1 are designed to “prioritize and emphasize the authority of messengers in defining the boundaries of our cooperation while clarifying and refining our structure,” the Southern Baptist Convention Cooperation Group stated.
The Southern Baptist Convention’s Cooperation Group announced April 19 it would release its recommendations May 1.
Attorneys for Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and past board chair Danny Roberts have filed for dismissal in a case brought by former president Adam Greenway.
In a unanimous vote April 15, Gateway Seminary trustees elected Adam Groza as the seminary’s eighth president during their spring 2024 meeting. His term begins May 13.
Dan Spencer, senior pastor of First Baptist Church, Sevierville, Tenn., has become the sixth nominee for president of the Southern Baptist Convention at the 2024 SBC annual meeting June 11-12 in Indianapolis.
David Crowther, pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Wichita, Kan., will be nominated for Southern Baptist Convention first vice president.
The Southern Baptist Convention’s Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force met with state leaders to preview the report it will present to the 2024 SBC annual meeting in June.
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary trustees heard reports of renewed financial stability and enrollment growth during their April 9-10 meeting.
Nearly a year after its original dismissal, attorneys argued the merits of a lawsuit against Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Paige Patterson, the school’s former president, before a three-judge appeals court panel April 3.
According to Lifeway Research’s analysis of the 2022 Annual Church Profile of the Southern Baptist Convention, 1,253 congregations that were part of the convention in 2021 no longer were connected to the SBC in 2022.
President David Dockery believes he can see the light at the end of the tunnel for Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
A group tasked with defining the meaning of “friendly cooperation” in the Southern Baptist Convention will take a long-range approach to their work, said its chairman.
Henry “Hanale” Lindo, serves as both pastor of Kaunakakai Baptist Church and assistant chief of operations for the Maui County Fire Department.
Names and background information are being processed for potential inclusion in an online database of individuals related to Southern Baptist churches who have been convicted of a sex crime or found liable for sex abuse in a civil case.
Hurricane Idalia’s strong winds toppled the steeple on Lakeside Baptist Church in Perry, Fla., but the storm did nothing to topple the faith of Lakeside members.
The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee has begun an investigation into the circumstances leading to the resignation of Willie McLaurin.
A subcommittee reported on its work providing oversight and recommendations regarding the investigation into financial fraud discovered by the Florida Baptist Convention in May.
After the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting, many people at Woodmont Baptist Church in Nashville, Tenn., were upset, Pastor Nathan Parker said.
The Fort Worth City Council and the city’s Housing Finance Corporation on Aug. 22 approved the $11 million purchase of 15 acres previously used as student housing by Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
As survivors continue reckoning with the series of chaotic events that generated one of the deadliest wildfires in U.S. history, Maui pastors seek to minister to their neighbors.
Officers of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee have named Jonathan Howe to serve as the group’s interim leader.
Willie McLaurin has resigned as interim president and CEO of the SBC Executive Committee, after confessing he lied about his educational background on his resume.
A U.S. District Court in Northern Mississippi dismissed Will McRaney’s lawsuit against the Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board.
Hispanic Southern Baptists agree the issue of female pastors is complex for Spanish-speaking congregations. They differ on whether amending the SBC Constitution is the way to bring unity and clarity.
Southern Baptist Convention President Bart Barber announced a North Carolina pastor will chair the abuse reform implementation task force and an Arlington pastor will chair the cooperation group formed in response to a motion at the 2023 SBC annual meeting.
Merritt called for "clarity" and "consistency" in his motion to form a task force to examine what it means for a church to be deemed in “friendly cooperation” with the SBC.
Leaders of the Progressive National Baptist Convention announced plans to work on enhancing voting rights and criminal justice reform through partnerships with like-minded organizations.
Aaron Sligar, a former trustee of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, says the seminary’s financial crisis puts the SBC’s relationships with individual churches at risk.
Bob Stine, former president of the Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention, will be required to answer questions in court after police in Madison, Wisc., recommended he be charged with sexual assault.
Messages of condolences and prayer support came forward for Shane Pruitt and his family following the July 25 death of his son.
The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee search team said they have resumed conversations with Interim President and CEO Willie McLaurin about his candidacy for the permanent position.
A move to exclude churches with women pastors on staff from the SBC could disenfranchise Black Southern Baptist churches, the president of the National African American Fellowship stated.
The Baptist World Alliance launched the Global Baptist Mission Network—a collaborative venture involving 23 inaugural member agencies—at its annual meeting in Stavanger, Norway.
Baptists are “a missionary people” sent by God “to every neighborhood and every nation,” Baptist World Alliance General Secretary Elijah Brown said,
Globally, three Baptists in 10 face the highest levels of vulnerability to hunger, poverty, violent conflict and religious persecution, a vulnerability index produced by BWA revealed.
A North Carolina megachurch, known for its popular music and high-profile pastor, has left the Southern Baptist Convention.
Rebekah Naylor, a longtime missionary surgeon, retired the first time in 2002 and came home to Texas after 35 years in India to care for her mother, who was ailing.
Los directivos de la Red Nacional Bautista Hispana (NHBN) se reunieron para trabajar y generaron propuestas para la obra.
The accreditation status of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary has been moved to “warning” level by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.
When Southern Baptists say “pastor,” they are discussing a job description, gender and church governance. And there’s a difference between how SBC doctrine defines the word and how churches use it.
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship nominating committee selected Pastor Juan L. García of Primera Iglesia Bautista de Newport News, Va., to serve as moderator-elect in 2023-24.
Registration and survey data following the 2023 SBC annual meeting indicates more than 4,400 churches were represented among the nearly 19,000 attendees in New Orleans.
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship general assembly will consider a $17.3 million budget proposal at the June 28-30 meeting in Atlanta.
The Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting amended the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message statement on pastors in response to a motion offered from the convention floor.
Southern Baptists adopted a resolution calling for “the utmost care and discernment” in the development and use of Artificial Intelligence.
Leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force unveiled a “Ministry Check” website as part of their report at the SBC' annual meeting.
Messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in New Orleans reelected Bart Barber, pastor of First Baptist Church in Farmersville, as SBC president by a more than two-to-one margin.
Abiding in Christ brings abundant hope, Woman’s Missionary Union leaders said at the 2023 WMU Missions Celebration and annual meeting.
Despite their similarities in doctrine and practice, Bart Barber and Mike Stone represent an ongoing dispute over the SBC’s current direction and future.
C. Welton Gaddy, a Baptist pastor who became an advocate for interfaith relations and progressive causes, died June 7. He was 81.
From 2002 to 2022, annual operating expenses at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary rose 35 percent while full-time-enrollment figures dropped 67 percent.
Southwestern Seminary’s board accused trustee Aaron Sligar of violating the confidentiality of an executive session of the board and withholding from the full board “substantiated facts about the former president’s spending.”
Author and longtime pastor Rick Warren released the first in a series of videos and an open letter to Southern Baptists in the days prior to the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting.
TBM Builders rolled into Panguitch, Utah, in late April to begin a months-long project of helping Valley Christian Fellowship build a parsonage, with Sunday school space in the basement.
A Baptist leader in North Carolina resigned last week after he and his wife were charged with three counts of felony animal cruelty and a misdemeanor offense of communicating threats.
Southwestern Seminary trustees voiced support for board leadership and castigated two trustees who had called for greater transparency and questioned leaders’ integrity.
The Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary will hold a special called meeting May 30 via Zoom to address concerns raised by trustees regarding lack of disclosure.
Oklahoma Southern Baptist pastor John-Mark Hart is part of a multifaith coalition advocating for the life of death row inmate Richard Glossip on grounds of biblical mercy and the pursuit of impartial criminal justice.
In separate motions filed for summary judgment in the McRaney v. North American Mission Board lawsuit, both parties are seeking a ruling by the judge ahead of the scheduled Aug. 7 trial date.
Kason Branch, senior pastor at Creekstone Church in North Richland Hills, will be nominated for second vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Saddleback Church, the California megachurch long known for its former pastor, bestselling author Rick Warren, has appealed the decision by the Southern Baptist Convention to oust it for naming a woman to its pastoral team.
Staff at the Florida Baptist Convention thought they were sending mission money to help pay for church planting. Then the money disappeared.
David Sills, a former seminary professor and missionary who was fired after admitting sexual misconduct, has filed a second lawsuit against a group of Southern Baptist Convention leaders and entities, claiming they conspired to defame him.
Membership in Southern Baptist Convention churches was down by nearly half a million in 2022, according to a recently released denomination report.
The jury trial against Paul Pressler, the Southern Baptist Convention and the SBC Executive Committee has been delayed until Oct. 16.
The upcoming expiration of a COVID-era immigration policy has communities and groups such as ministry centers bracing for a surge in migrants.
A group of North Carolina Baptist churches has begun retrofitting vacant church-owned buildings for refugee housing.
Arlington pastor Jared Wellman, who recently stepped down as chair of the SBC Executive Committee board of trustees, has been selected as the nominee for the next Executive Committee president.
Charles Stanley, ex presidente de la Convención Bautista del Sur y uno de los principales predicadores de radio y televisión del país, falleció en paz en su casa el martes 18 de abril, a la edad de 90 años.
Paige Patterson and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary have been dismissed from the abuse related case involving Paul Pressler.
Oklahoma Baptist University sustained severe tornado damage to its campus, but university officials reported no injuries due to the April 19 storm.
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary trustees heard a report from a task force calling for “new financial guardrails” to guard against “imprudent” and “unwise” financial activities.
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary trustees announced they unanimously elected David S. Dockery as president and O.S. Hawkins as chancellor at their April 19 meeting.
Brent Leatherwood, president of the SBC Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, urged Tennessee lawmakers to pass a “red flag” law to remove guns from people who are a danger to themselves or others.
Lenin de Janon, la voz de Adrián Rogers en el mundo de habla hispana, falleció el 12 de marzo a la edad de 89 años.
A judge dismissed a former seminary student’s negligence and defamation charges against Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and its former president, Paige Patterson.
In the past 10 years, about 400 students have made professions of faith through the Baptist Student Ministry at the University of Texas at Arlington.
The Christian call to pursue just peace in the midst of violence and injustice demands “kingdom courage,” Baptist World Alliance General Secretary Elijah Brown told a Dallas Baptist University gathering.
Woodmont Baptist Church served as the designated reunification center for children from Covenant School and their parents following a mass shooting at the private Christian school in Nashville.
Tornadoes struck a path more than 100 miles long through Mississippi, killing at least 21 people and damaging or destroying more than 2,000 homes.
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship congregations are distinguished by the political diversity of their congregations, split nearly equally between Republican-leaning and Democratic-leaning voters.
A disgraced former Southern Baptist president is suing the denomination he once led, saying he was defamed by allegations he assaulted another pastor’s wife.
Saddleback Church plans to continue its "43-year partnership with our local association and state convention" regardless of appeal to SBC.
At the SBC’s meeting this summer, delegates may debate a constitutional amendment to limit women leaders. It wouldn’t be the first time.
An open forum discussion at First Baptist Church in Grayson, Ky., on a Wednesday night turned into an opportunity for young and older members to learn more about each other.
First responders and members of a North Carolina church are being hailed as heroes after they helped pull a man to safety from a burning vehicle after the car crashed through the front of the church building.
A U.S. District Court granted a continuance to complete the discovery process in a case brought against the North American Mission Board by former state executive Will McRaney.
A dozen members of an online ESL group met on Zoom on the first anniversary of the Urkaine/Russia war, including members from Ukraine and members of First Baptist Church in Nashville.
GuideStone trustees affirmed a new strategic plan during their regular meeting Feb. 27-28 in Plano.
Samantha Kilpatrick of Guidepost Solutions answered questions about the organization’s new Faith-Based Solutions division and plans for the upcoming Ministry Check database.
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary accepted a nonbinding agreement to sell 15 acres of its B.H. Carroll Park to the City of Fort Worth for $11 million.
After years of delay, Southern Baptists passed a series of reforms aimed at addressing abuse in the denomination. But the plan for reforms did not address who would pay for them over the long haul.
Looking back on his family’s journey to adopt their 6-year-old special-needs daughter “Brizzy” from Ukraine last spring, Pastor Phil Graves described the journey as “improbable.”
Affiliating with the Southern Baptist Convention historically has been relatively easy for churches. And getting kicked out was difficult—until recently.
Subject to appeal, Saddleback Church, the megachurch long led by Rick Warren, has been ousted from the Southern Baptist Convention for naming a woman to its pastoral team, against SBC teaching.
Charleston pastor Marshall Blalock, chair of a Southern Baptist task force charged with implementing abuse reforms, announced the task force had recommended hiring Guidepost Solutions, an international consulting firm, to set up the database.
Putting reforms into practice will be difficult for the Southern Baptist Convention and will take decades of rebuilding trust, something sex abuse survivors have long known.
Fred Luter, former SBC president and pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church, announced Feb. 14 he plans to nominate fellow New Orleans pastor Jay Adkins for first vice president at the 2023 SBC annual meeting.
Louisiana Pastor Steven James announced his intent to nominate Farmersville pastor Bart Barber for reelection as Southern Baptist Convention president at the 2023 SBC annual meeting.
Brown Missionary Baptist Church’s $1,000 weekly anonymous gift to Memphis-area nonprofits has morphed into a partnership to train such groups for maximum impact.
Michael Crawford, executive director of the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware, resigned from his position “due to moral failure involving marital indiscretions which disqualifies him from this position.”
Two churches have been reported to the Southern Baptist Convention’s credentials committee on the grounds the churches are out of step with the SBC stance on sexual abuse.
La Red Nacional Bautista Hispana (RNBH) se reunió el 5 de enero donde unánimemente nombraron al Dr. Bruno Molina como su Director Ejecutivo.
Four years after the lawsuit was filed, a court date finally is set for the civil case involving former Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary President Paige Patterson’s handling of a sexual abuse complaint.
Tennessee Baptist disaster relief provided support for first responders preparing for protests in Memphis in the aftermath of the beating and death of Tyre Nichols.
Claiming “false allegations” had ruined his life, former Southern Baptist Convention President Johnny Hunt returned to the pulpit Jan. 15, eight months after allegations that he had sexually assaulted another pastor’s wife became public.
"The cost of doing nothing" to combat sexual abuse far outweighs "the cost of doing something," Southern Baptist Convention President Bart Barber said in a video on social media.
Baptist disaster relief crews responded after a line of storms brought multiple tornadoes in the northern and central areas of Alabama. Additional storms hit Georgia and Kentucky.
The North American Baptist Fellowship installed Emmett Dunn to a three-year term as president Jan. 10 during an online meeting of the fellowship’s executive committee.
The SBC Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force, the SBC Executive Committee and Guidepost Solutions respond to allegations of breaches of confidentiality within the SBC sexual abuse hotline.
Jenny Stewart of Australia/United Kingdom has joined the Baptist World Alliance executive leadership as its first director of ministries and chief operating officer.
Bobbye Simmons Rankin, who served more than two decades as a Southern Baptist foreign missionary to Asia before her husband Jerry was named International Mission Board president, died Jan. 2 in her home state of Mississippi. She was 78.
Plans are underway to found a leadership institute in the name of George Liele, the trailblazing formerly enslaved pastor who began his international ministry in Jamaica in 1783.
Senior Pastor Amos Crews of Pillar of Hope Church took a drive through Tarrant, Ala., the deteriorating community that is the church’s newfound home.
The Unify Project, a national collaborative to engage pastors in racial reconciliation, is weeks from launching, former Southern Baptist Convention President Ed Litton announced Oct. 20.
David Dockery insisted Southwestern Seminary is "not in a crisis," but he told trustees financial challenges "could quickly escalate to a crisis if we do not aggressively move to address them."
Southern Baptist Convention President Bart Barber responded to questions about sexual abuse in the SBC and the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol during an interview on the CBS 60 Minutes news program.
Former Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary President Adam W. Greenway announced he will not move to a new position with the International Mission Board.
In an abrupt change of plans, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary trustees announced David Dockery will serve as the school's interim president and O.S. Hawkins as senior adviser and ambassador-at-large following the departure of Adam Greenway as president.
National Woman’s Missionary Union responded with help and the hope of the gospel in the midst of the water crisis in Jackson, Miss.
Financial leaders for the SBC Executive Committee are navigating seasons of uncertainty on the heels of an investigation into alleged mishandling of sexual abuse claims and the launch of a Department of Justice investigation.
Southwestern Seminary announced Adam Greenway resigned as president. O.S. Hawkins and David Dockery will head the interim leadership team.
In a closed meeting Sept. 20, the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee voted to disfellowship two churches.
The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee voted Sept. 20 to propose a change in the timeline for submitting and publishing resolutions to be voted on by messengers at SBC annual meetings.
After the initial meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force, the group publicly pledged to begin its work by focusing on several mandates from the convention.
Brent Leatherwood hopes Southern Baptists will vote in the upcoming mid-term elections in ways “that protect life, that protect religious liberty, that protect marriage.” But it’s up to each person to vote the way he or she sees best.