In the US, Southern Baptists end first day of annual meeting with key questions hanging
New Orleans, USRNS During the opening day of their annual meeting, Southern Baptists re-elected a president, debated the place of women leaders in the church and spent hours debating using Robert’s Rules of Order. Still, nearly 10 hours after the opening gavel, key issues that brought nearly 13,000 members of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination […]
In the US, Georgia pastor Mike Stone to challenge SBC President Bart Barber this summer
United StatesRNS For only the second time in more than three decades, a Southern Baptist Convention president will face a challenge for reelection. Georgia pastor Mike Stone, who lost a hotly contested election in 2021, announced on Wednesday that he would accept a nomination for the presidency of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination. Pastor Mike Stone. PICTURE: […]
Who will pay for the SBC’s abuse reforms over the long term? No-one knows
United StatesRNS After years of delay, Southern Baptists passed a series of reforms in 2022 aimed at addressing abuse in the nation’s largest Protestant denomination. Those reforms included setting up a “Ministry Check” database to track abusive pastors and training churches on how to prevent abuse and to care for abuse survivors. The plan for […]
Southern Baptists plan to hire Guidepost Solutions to run abuser tracking database
United StatesRNS For years, Southern Baptist leaders told members of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination that setting up a database to track abusive pastors was impossible. Now that impossible task is one step closer to being a reality. Charleston pastor Marshall Blalock, chair of a Southern Baptist task force on managing the abusive pastors tracker […]
In the US, Todd Benkert leaves SBC abuse task force after conflict over pastor’s restoration
United StatesRNS Todd Benkert, a Southern Baptist pastor who helped force reforms in the nation’s largest Protestant denomination’s sexual abuse policies, has stepped down from a task force he was appointed to last year to implement those reforms. Benkert’s role on the committee became controversial this week due to a public dispute involving a Florida […]
Southern Baptists: Dispute over abuse hotline reveals how far the SBC still has to go
BOB SMIETANA, of Religion News Service, reports that while a group of Southern Baptist leaders is working to implement a set of reforms to respond better to sexual abuse, many survivors still distrust them…
Pastors say Johnny Hunt, former SBC president accused of abuse, can return to ministry
United StatesRNS Disgraced former Southern Baptist Convention President Johnny Hunt plans a return to ministry after completing a restoration process overseen by four pastors, according to a video released last week. Hunt, a longtime megachurch pastor in Georgia, was named earlier this year in the Guidepost Solutions report on sexual abuse in the SBC, which alleged that […]
The US Department of Justice is investigating the SBC. What does it mean?
United StatesRNS More than four decades after sexual abuse claims against a Catholic priest first made national headlines, spurring accusations, lawsuits, a series of newspaper investigations and billions in settlements, the US Department of Justice is investigating a religious group’s handling of sexual crimes by clergy and church staff. This time, the Southern Baptist Convention […]
Southern Baptists say denomination faces US Department of Justice investigation
Nashville, Tennessee, US AP Leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention said Friday that several of the denomination’s major entities are under investigation by the US Department of Justice in the wake of its multiple problems related to clergy sex abuse. The SBC’s Executive Committee has received a subpoena, but no individuals have been subpoenaed at this […]
New SBC President commits to move sex abuse reforms forward
Anaheim, California, US AP The new president of the Southern Baptist Convention said on Wednesday he will accelerate sex abuse reforms in the nation’s largest Protestant denomination. Texas pastor Bart Barber’s first priority: to assemble a panel of people – Southern Baptist leaders and experts – to shepherd this work for the whole convention as mandated […]