SBC President J.D. Greear cries during a lamenting prayer for the sexual abuse that has occurred in the church during the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention at the BJCC, June 12, 2019 in Birmingham, Ala. RNS photo by Butch Dill.
Need to know: Thursday, June 13, 2019
Southern Baptists face sex abuse crisis with litany of lament
Following along on large screens around the Legacy Arena, women, men, pastors, lay people and survivors took turns reading words drawn from the biblical books of Psalms and Lamentations.
Boisterous faith leaders and a silent Pete Buttigieg rally against Trump at White House
Despite being repeatedly blocked by federal agents and the mysterious closure of a park across from the White House, the demonstrators still got their message of resistance to the president across.
Muslim comedian awarded $4.1 million in defamation lawsuit against neo-Nazi site
A federal judge has ordered the Daily Stormer's publishers to pay $4.1 million in damages to Muslim comedian Dean Obeidallah for falsely accusing him of terrorism.
Women as pastors? Not all Baptists say no
The ways the Holy Spirit used women to invite both men and women to relationship with Jesus, establish congregations and offer a witness to his love shows that the calling of women is no new activity in the life of God, writes Paul Baxley.
Connecting the scourge of ethnic nationalism to the 1984 Sikh massacre
Ethno-nationalism is a regressive way of constructing and inhabiting a nation, yet its popularity is surging in the skyrocketing Hindu nationalism in India or the rise of white nationalism in the United States, writes Simran Jeet Singh.
Americans see Catholic clergy sex abuse as an ongoing problem
More than 15 years after U.S. bishops pledged “zero tolerance” for sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests, reports of previously unpublicized misconduct continue to receive wide media coverage.
Latest news from RNS
Southern Baptists approve amendments dealing with sexual abuse, racism
At their annual meeting in Birmingham, Southern Baptists approved constitutional amendments aimed at dealing with abuse. If approved again next year, the amendments would allow the nation's largest Protestant denomination to remove churches that mishandle allegations of abuse or misconduct.
Matt Chandler, megachurch pastor, addresses allegations of abuse at Village Church during SBC meeting
Matt Chandler, pastor of the Village Church outside of Dallas, defended his church against reports it had mishandled allegations of abuse.
As opioid epidemic spreads, a NC church opens its doors to a syringe exchange
Green Street Church's syringe exchange is one of a handful housed at a place of worship across the state. As the opioid epidemic spreads, the North Carolina Council of Churches hopes more will consider it.
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How antisemitic was the Dyke March?
All God's children got triggers. Only one flag causes them? Give me a break.
Most Southern Baptist women would welcome a woman pastor. It’s unlikely to happen.
Official Roman Catholic and Southern Baptist teaching bars women from being pastors or priests. But some polling shows that many Catholics and Baptists would be fine with a woman pastor, writes Ryan Burge.
In my church, some of us voted for President Trump. All of us pray for him.
(RNS) — Recent public prayers for the president appear to understand prayer less as an ancient and mysterious spiritual practice than as a chance to endorse (or condemn) what we see in the world around us.
