William Barber Departs Pulpit of Greenleaf Church With an Ode to the Power of Disability
The sermon, which capped his 30-year tenure as pastor of the Disciples of Christ church in Goldsboro, North Carolina, was unusually personal.
SBC Saved From … Hearing a Woman Preach God’s Love
This issue of A Public Witness adds historical context to the contentious meeting of the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S. to consider what the debate about women in ministry means for that body and the broader Christian witness.
Southern Baptists Refuse To Take Back Megachurch Because It Has Women Pastors
Saddleback had been the denomination’s second-largest congregation and until recently was widely touted as a success story amid larger Southern Baptist membership declines.
SBC Messengers Reelect Texas Pastor Bart Barber to a Second Term as President
Barber's reelection seems to indicate that Southern Baptists approve of the direction the convention is going and marks the third time a candidate backed by the Conservative Baptist Network has been defeated.
Preachers Confront Christian Nationalism
This issue of A Public Witness examines sermons preached on Sunday across the country to highlight what pastors participating in Faithful America's pre-Flag Day event had to share about the dangers of Christian Nationalism.
Before Advocating for Women in Ministry, Rick Warren Split With SBC Over Global Fellowship
Rick Warren has been mounting a public campaign as he urges Southern Baptists to not kick out churches for ordaining women ministers. While his advocacy sparked recent profiles, that coverage leaves out an earlier time when Warren publicly broke with the SBC over its attempt
Reparations Campaign Takes New Forms With Bible Study, Juneteenth March
'The case for restitution and restoration is laid out across the Old Testament and New Testament,' reads the introduction of the National Council of Churches' study.
With Turning Point Faith, Pastors Use Politics as a Church-Growth Strategy
For a growing number of evangelical pastors, embracing right-wing rhetoric is seen as a way to put more people in the pews — and it may be working.
Welton Gaddy, Former Southern Baptist Who Became a Champion of Liberal Christianity, Dies
The Rev. C. Welton Gaddy, a pastor and former president of Interfaith Alliance who went from being a conservative Southern Baptist leader to an advocate for interfaith relations and LGBTQ Christians, died Wednesday at the age of 81.
Bart Barber, Mike Stone — Two Conservative Pastors — To Square Off for SBC President
The two candidates for SBC president hold many of the same beliefs but disagree sharply over how to handle the issue of sexual abuse and over the direction of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination.