The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee meeting scheduled to be held in Nashville Sept. 21-22 has been canceled and replaced with a special called meeting, to be held online Sept. 22. EC Chairman Rolland Slade said given the COVID-19 pandemic, meeting virtually was the best decision for the safety of EC members, their families, congregations […]
Most state conventions redesign or cancel annual meetings during COVID-19
Most Southern Baptist state conventions are either redesigning or canceling their 2020 annual meeting to prevent spread of COVID-19. As of Sept. 1, only 13 — including the South Carolina Baptist Convention — intend to proceed with in-person gatherings. In Mississippi, where COVID-19 test results show a 14.51 percent positivity rate, the Mississippi Baptist Convention […]
IMB issues statement regarding Aderholt investigation
The International Mission Board has issued a statement which it says clarifies and corrects previous statements made by the IMB that appeared in articles published in July 2018 in Baptist Press. The articles, published July 16, 2018, and July 18, 2018, concerned sexual crimes committed by former IMB missionary Mark Aderholt against a teenager in […]
WMU announces voluntary retirement plan amid COVID financial crisis
In response to a decline in sales due to COVID-19, national WMU announced today it is offering a voluntary retirement plan to staff. “We have worked incredibly hard over the past several years to ‘right size’ our organization based on revenue projections,” said Sandy Wisdom-Martin, executive director of national WMU. “With two difficult back-to-back downsizings […]
New Executive Committee chair Rolland Slade viewed as pastor of all El Cajon
Rolland Slade’s longtime friend John Hughes describes him as the pastor of all of El Cajon, a San Diego suburb of more than 100,000 people. So much so, said Hughes, that when an ecumenical group of pastors sought to comfort the community after El Cajon police shot and killed an unarmed African immigrant in 2016, […]
SBC continues decline, Ronnie Floyd calls for rethinking ACP
For the 13th consecutive year, the Southern Baptist Convention reported a drop in its membership. Total membership in the Southern Baptist Convention fell almost 2 percent, to 14,525,579, from 2018 to 2019. The decline of 287,655 members is the largest single-year drop in more than 100 years. While the statistical decline is concerning for the […]
Mississippi Baptists ask Legislature to remove Confederate symbol from state flag
Offering a “voice of healing in the name of Jesus Christ,” Mississippi Baptists asked the Legislature June 23 to replace the state flag with a design that does not include the Confederate flag. National racial tension and discussions regarding the flag in recent days prompted the move, Mississippi Baptist Convention Board Executive Director and Treasurer […]
In historic election, SBC Executive Committee elects first African-American chair
The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee elected its first African-American chair in a special called meeting June 16. Rolland Slade, pastor of Meridian Baptist Church in El Cajon, Calif., was unopposed as EC chair and was unanimously elected by ballot vote. Outgoing chair Mike Stone called for a ballot vote, he said, to mark the […]
Racial healing, Great Commission, Cooperative Program headline SBC Advance
Amid unprecedented challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as racial unrest and tumult after the recent death of an African-American man in police custody, the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee offered a healing balm June 2 with SBC Advance. The two-hour online event was not intended to replace the 2020 SBC Annual Meeting […]
SBC institutions make budget cutbacks in wake of COVID-19
In the wake of the COVID-19 virus and amid other declining metrics, Southern Baptist Convention institutions have enacted budget cuts for the 2020-2021 budget year. LifeWay eliminated its World Changers mission projects for this summer and closed all future operations due to declining numbers. The entity also announced a series of budget freezes, cutbacks, and […]