Matt Henslee, president of the 2022 Southern Baptist Convention Pastors Conference, has come up with a fun and creative way to introduce the 12 pastors scheduled to speak at the conference. The video announcement, titled “The 12 Days of Pastors,” is set to the tune of, you guessed it, “The 12 Days of Christmas.” Written […]
The sexual abuse task force investigating the potential mishandling of sexual abuse claims by the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee gave an update on its website Nov. 11. The task force is partnering with Guidepost Solutions to conduct the third-party investigation. According to the update, Guidepost has requested relevant documents from the SBC EC and […]
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary filed a petition on Nov. 5 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit against the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to block President Biden’s enforcement of a mandate requiring employees of private employers be vaccinated against COVID-19. “It is unacceptable for the government to force religious institutions […]
Grant Gaines, pastor of BellAire Baptist Church in Murfreesboro, Tenn., presented the following motion, which was overwhelmingly approved by messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention’s 2021 annual meeting in Nashville: I move that the Southern Baptist Convention, meeting June 15-16, 2021, in Nashville, Tenn., ask the newly elected president of the SBC to appoint a […]
The following is a transcript of comments made by Rolland Slade, chair of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, at the close of the group’s special called meeting on Oct. 5: I can say to you truly as chairman and Executive Committee [member], I’d like to really express my relief that this present challenge seems […]
South Carolina’s Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee trustees — David Sons, pastor of Lake Murray Baptist Church in Lexington, and Dwight Easler, pastor of Corinth Baptist Church in Gaffney — recently sat down with The Courier to discuss the ongoing investigation of the Executive Committee and staff. An investigative report by the Houston Chronicle in […]
Longtime convention attorneys Jim Guenther and Jaime Jordan alerted SBC Executive Committee President and CEO Ronnie Floyd Oct. 11 that the law firm of Guenther, Jordan & Price has “no choice” but to “withdraw … from [its] role as general counsel to the Southern Baptist Convention and the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention.” […]
In a second, special called virtual meeting Oct. 5, members of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee voted 44-31 to waive attorney-client privilege in a third-party investigation of the EC and its handling of sexual abuse claims. The approved Executive Committee motion, made by Jared Wellman of Texas, states: “I would like to make a […]
Ronnie Floyd, president and CEO of the SBC Executive Committee, announced his resignation Oct. 14 in a letter to Southern Baptists released by email. Floyd pointed to the actions taken by trustees in a special called meeting on Oct. 5 as the basis for his decision. “The decisions made on Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 5, in response […]
More U.S. Protestant churches are gathering in person since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and pastors say most churchgoers have returned as well. Almost all U.S. Protestant pastors (98 percent) say their church met in person in August, according to a new Lifeway Research study. This marks the highest percentage of churches holding in-person services since […]