(OPINION) With all that’s going on in The Southern Baptist Convention, one matter is being ignored. But given the current squabbles and embarrassments, this would seem a good time for the denomination to rebrand itself with a new name. For starters, the “Southern” monicker is no longer accurate. Then there’s unfortunate history to overcome in which the name is enmeshed with slavery.
Read MoreThis week’s Weekend Plug-in covers the resignation of a top Southern Baptist Convention official for lying on his resume. Plus, as always, catch up on all the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.
Read More(OPINION) Lost amid the news of Southern Baptist Convention’s disfellowshipping of Saddleback Church was that of a much smaller Kentucky church — Louisville’s Fern Creek Baptist, with a Sunday attendance of 150, where the Rev. Linda Barnes Popham has served as lead pastor for 30 years..
Read MoreNorth Carolina megachurch Elevation — known for its popular music and charismatic pastor — is withdrawing its affiliation with the Southern Baptist Convention effective immediately, according to a letter sent to the SBC’s Executive Committee and the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina.
Read More(ANALYSIS) It’s worth pausing to note a couple of “behind the headlines” moments from the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting. If you think there is deep division in the Southern Baptist Convention, you have to ignore a lot of hard data that suggest a strong consensus — on abuse reform, on women pastors, and on cleaning up decades of financial profligacy.
Read More(OPINION) The issue isn’t who is a Baptist and who is not. Church historians struggle to count the number of organized Baptist groups, and thousands of Baptist churches are totally independent. The question is whether the SBC’s DNA has changed in ways that will affect local churches, as well as agencies, boards and seminaries at the state and national levels.
Read MoreThe former president of a prominent Southern Baptist seminary in north Texas spent $1.5 million in home renovations and tens of thousands more in unchecked spending, according to a report from the institution.
Read MoreWarren’s video series, named “SBC at the Crossroads,” aims to state the problems plaguing the Baptist denomination and examine a biblical path to revive and revitalize the hearts of Baptist Church congregants, and thereby the entire denomination.
Read More(OPINION) In the latest wrinkle in what researchers have long called the "worship wars," some church leaders are asking a blunt question about the decision to trade traditional hymnals for contemporary Christian music. That question: Has the typical Sunday service become a semiprofessional concert instead of a communal worship experience for all believers?
Read More(OPINION) The June 13-14 annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, America’s largest Protestant denomination, will be a landmark gathering to decide whether to expel any congregation with a women pastor, thus affirming the SBC Executive Committee’s February expulsion of five such congregations.
Read MoreWell-known author and columnist Karen Swallow Prior has announced that she will leave her faculty position at a prominent Southern Baptist seminary, saying that she does not “share the same vision for carrying out the Great Commission.”
Read MoreThis week’s Weekend Plug-in highlights ReligionUnplugged.com’s best stories and projects of 2022, as selected by the senior editors. Plus, check out the Top 10 most-shared editions of Plug-in from this past. year.
Read More(OPINION) In Southern Baptist polity — with sprawling structures of autonomous congregations that, to varying degrees, fund state, national and global ministries — there are no leadership structures resembling local Presbyterian presbyteries, regional annual conferences among United Methodists or the powerful diocesan structures of Catholics, Episcopalians and others. Local churches ordain, hire and fire clergy.
Read MoreGuidepost Solutions, the firm leading the Southern Baptist Convention investigation into sexual misconduct allegations, tweeted support for the LGBTQ movement June 6 as part of Pride Month. Several SBC leaders have responded with criticism, calling for the church to cut ties with the firm.
Read More(OPINION) In devastating fashion, the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, has been accused of a massive cover-up of sexual sins. As evangelical followers of Jesus, because of our failings and scandals and carnality, the name of the Lord is being mocked and ridiculed. This is heartbreaking on so many levels.
Read MoreThe investigation of alleged mishandling of sexual abuse has cost the Southern Baptist Convention more than $1.7 million so far, a number that exceeds the original estimate made last fall. A 2019 investigation by the Houston Chronicle reported hundreds of abuse cases in Southern Baptist churches spanning decades.
Read More(OPINION) Once upon a time, Southern Baptists in Bible Belt communities knew how to talk to people who didn’t go to church. Things changed as the greater Greenville-Spartanburg are welcomed waves of high-tech firms and industries with global brands such as BMW, Bosch and many others. Today’s newcomers speak German or Japanese.
Read More(OPINION) In the words of Bruce Riley Ashford, the provost of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, the word Southern will, “forever be associated with pro-slavery views.” This has led to discussion of changing the name, but to what?
Read More(ANALYSIS) Concerned over the direction that some leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention have recently taken, a number of pastors in the denomination have formed the “Conservative Baptist Network” while others have left the denomination altogether. A history of the “Baptist battles” provides context for the SBC’s recent infighting along race, gender and ideology.
Read More(OPINION) Whenever the Southern Baptist Convention gathers in times of trials and turmoil, one thing is certain – someone will preach a sermon that makes a difference. That's how Southern Baptists do what they do. These sermons may not produce as many headlines as SBC elections or fiery debates about hot-button social issues, but the sermons matter.
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