Southern Baptist Convention
Rick Warren campaigns for Southern Baptist reinstatement of Saddleback Church
By Adelle M. Banks — June 5, 2023
(RNS) — Warren argues that the debate is far larger than what might happen to the church he founded.
Thoughts on my 5-year anniversary of getting hit by a bus
By Karen Swallow Prior — May 24, 2023
(RNS) — First a bus, now a dog attack. If these are signs, they aren’t subtle.
Saddleback Church appeals Southern Baptist Convention ouster over woman pastor
By Adelle M. Banks — May 16, 2023
(RNS) — It is one of three churches appealing decisions recently made by the denomination’s Executive Committee to remove eight congregations from official affiliation.
David Sills, former seminary professor named in Guidepost report, sues SBC
By Bob Smietana — May 12, 2023
(RNS) — The former seminary professor claims in a complaint filed in the US District Court for Middle Tennessee that he was made a scapegoat for the denomination’s sex abuse crisis.
SBC Executive Committee rejects nominee Jared Wellman and restarts search for CEO
By Bob Smietana — May 2, 2023
(RNS) — Critics of the Texas pastor questioned his role in the search process as former Executive Committee chair and wondered why interim President Willie McLaurin, who is Black, had been passed over.
Can evangelicalism survive its white, straight, conservative victory?
By Jonathan Merritt — May 2, 2023
(RNS) — A new history of evangelicalism recounts the damage of the movement’s repeated purges.
Charles Stanley, TV preacher and Southern Baptist leader, dies at 90
By Adelle M. Banks — April 19, 2023
(RNS) — The author of dozens of books was recognized by people in the grassroots as well as in the highest echelons of American society.
Southern Baptist task force may split with Guidepost over LGBTQ views
By Bob Smietana — April 4, 2023
(RNS) — Guidepost has been criticized by SBC leaders for its support of LGBT rights.
‘Purple church’ pastors mull leadership strategies in polarizing times
By Yonat Shimron — March 27, 2023
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (RNS) — The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina held a leadership forum to help pastors figure out how to speak out without alienating half of their members.
The Southern Baptist Convention’s coming ‘Great Ejection’
By Curtis W. Freeman — March 22, 2023
(RNS) — Will this summer’s SBC annual meeting make Christian history?
Jimmy Carter’s religious values were never far from his presidency or his policy
By Lovett H. Weems Jr. — March 22, 2023
(RNS) — The former president possessed an inner confidence in relation to his faith that may not be fully understood by many, even to this day.
Johnny Hunt, disgraced former SBC pastor, sues denomination he once led
By Bob Smietana — March 18, 2023
(RNS) — In a court filing, Hunt admitted kissing and fondling another pastor's wife but says the incident was consensual and private and should not have been made public in a major 2022 report.
Since the 1880s, Southern Baptists have argued over the role of women
By Bob Smietana — March 15, 2023
(RNS)— At the SBC’s meeting this summer, delegates may debate a constitutional amendment to limit women leaders. It wouldn’t be the first time.
Saddleback Church doubles down on support for female pastors
By Deepa Bharath and Peter Smith — March 1, 2023
(AP) — “I’m serving Jesus under the authority and in alignment with my spiritual leaders,” said Stacie Wood, teaching pastor at Saddleback Church.
Southern Baptists oust Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church for naming a female pastor
By Adelle M. Banks — February 21, 2023
(RNS) — Stacie Wood, wife of Andy Wood, who replaced Warren as lead pastor last summer, has the title of ‘teaching pastor.’
