A collective of SBC Executive Committee members have released a statement in response to Tuesday’s (Sept. 21) approval of a motion that, while funding a task force-approved investigation into allegations of the mishandling of sexual abuse claims, stopped short of waiving attorney-client privilege. SBC EC member Jared Wellman, who helped draft the statement, presented his […]
Twenty years after spending weeks in what could only be called a war zone, Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers are reflecting on their experience working in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 and how it affected their lives. Sam Porter is the national director for Southern Baptist Disaster Relief for Send Relief with the North American […]
With more than 423,000 south Louisianians still in the dark nine days after Hurricane Ida’s landfall, Southern Baptist Disaster Relief teams were working hard to repair homes, serve food and share Christ’s love in the region. Through Sept. 6, 14 sites were hosting teams from 13 states. They had prepared 147,517 meals, served 4,790 meals, […]
More than 70 Southern Baptist churches in South Louisiana recently suffered structural damage from Hurricane Ida. “We have churches ranging from desperate to recovering, and the desperate ones need help. They’re below I-10. Insurance rates are out of this world. It’s going to be tough for them,” Louisiana Baptist Convention Director of Missions John Hebert […]
Sixteen years to the day after Katrina’s historic landfall, Hurricane Ida arrived in Port Fourchon, La., around noon on Aug. 29 as a Category 4 storm. Southern Baptist Disaster Relief teams have started assessing damage and preparing their response. South Carolina Baptist Disaster Relief units will be participating in the Hurricane Ida response. The initial […]
Southern Baptist Convention President Ed Litton has named Marshall Blalock to a seven-member task force to oversee a third-party review into the handling of sexual abuse claims by the SBC Executive Committee. Calling formation of the task force his “first priority,” Litton said the seven members of the task force “represent pastors, as well as […]
Messengers resoundingly defeated a change to the Southern Baptist Convention business and financial plan proposed by the convention’s Executive Committee. Critics said the proposal would have granted the EC too much authority and left the six SBC seminaries in trouble with accreditors. The defeat was part of messengers’ mixed reception to a series of recommendations […]
A day after overruling the Resolutions Committee, messengers to the 2021 Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting adopted a resolution June 16 calling for “abolishing abortion immediately, without exception or compromise.” The Resolutions Committee had declined the resolution, reasoning that while “messengers would agree with some aspects of this resolution,” the issue of abortion was addressed in […]
Messengers to the 2021 Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting approved a broad resolution on the Bible’s sufficiency regarding race and racial reconciliation June 15 but chose not to address specifically the contentious issue of Critical Race Theory. Among nine resolutions passed, messengers also overwhelmingly endorsed statements on government policies that included: — A denunciation of […]
In the press conference following his election as the 46th president of the Southern Baptist Convention, Ed Litton spoke of family, healing and conversations to come. All of those dealt not only with subjects such as racial reconciliation and sexual abuse, but a convention still divided over how to approach them. Litton, pastor of Redemption […]