Baptist

For years, John Onwuchekwa was a rising star in the Southern Baptist Convention. The Black pastor was part of the family and destined for great things. Then he wasn’t. And now he and his church is leaving the SBC.

A prominent Southern Baptist church led by a former denominational president is the subject of a lawsuit that highlights how ignoring “red flags” of manipulative behavior could lead to sexual abuse. 

Churches should partner with government officials to fight the spread of the coronavirus while receiving First Amendment protections as they cooperate, the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission said in a new statement. 

In the middle of one of the highest COVID-19 surges worldwide, pastors serving Florida’s hard-hit Hispanic community are suffering illnesses among their respective congregations while continuing their ministry.

As some Black Southern Baptists urge Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, to remove from campus buildings the names of its founders who were enslavers, a Black student there is criticizing SBTS for featuring images of its founders on merchandise like mugs.

In a letter to Southern Baptist Convention leaders, an African American pastor from Texas urged the denomination to meaningfully increase the number of Black people in positions of leadership across its various institutions and to “understand that racism is much more than an individual sin.”

Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, says the school should stop using the name of a racist financial supporter, but added he will not remove the names of the slaveholding founders from campus buildings.

Following a 5-4 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday (June 30) in a case involving state funding of religious schools, Baptists focused on religious liberty issues offered divergent assessments. The case is Espinoza v. Montana Department Revenue.

The Board of Trustees for Cedarville University, an independent Baptist school with close ties to Southern Baptists, reinstated Thomas White as president Friday. White had been on administrative leave since May 1, following the controversial hiring and firing of a faculty member accused of sexual abuse.

Baylor University in Waco, Texas, acknowledged its historical ties to slavery and the Confederacy Friday (June 26) and announced a process to study the institution’s past to inform efforts toward racial justice.