Baptist

Central Seminary President Dr. Molly T. Marshall announced her resignation effective March 1, citing "an ethical lapse that betrayed my stewardship of office" in a statement released by the seminary today (March 30).

Baptist pastors are among the victims of the coronavirus outbreak as the global pandemic accelerates in the United States. Two black Baptist pastors were part of the first wave of people in the U.S. to die from the COVID-19 respiratory disease caused by coronavirus.

In response to the COVID-19 global pandemic, the Baptist World Alliance announced Friday (March 27) it would postpone the 22nd Baptist World Congress for one year. The Congress, a quinquennial event scheduled this time to take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in July 2020, will now occur July 7-10, 2021, in Rio de Janeiro. The BWA previously postponed Congress during the Great Depression, canceled it during World War II, and delayed its Baptist Youth World Conference in 2003 due to the SARS outbreak.

As governors and mayors across the United States seek to slow the spread of the coronavirus outbreak, a church-state issue quickly emerged as some governmental officials included houses of worship in their bans of mass gatherings. Even while some officials created religious exemptions, Baptists who monitor church-state issues agree that such exemptions are not constitutionally necessary.

Speaking from self-quarantine because of recent travel, Baptist World Alliance President Paul Msiza expressed concerns about the potential impact of coronavirus on his home country of South Africa as well as Baptist communities across the globe. The BWA also announced today (March 25) an international prayer effort to start March 30.

In response to the growing impact of COVID-19 around the world, the Baptist World Alliance (BWA) calls on the global Baptist family to join together for a 24-hour prayer marathon, launching with an audio conference on Monday, March 30, at 8:15 a.m. CT.

As the global coronavirus pandemic shuts down countries and endangers livelihoods and lives, some Baptist leaders warn that people already vulnerable in our society are the most vulnerable to the virus and its economic impact. And while the drops in the stock market and the woes of large global conglomerates dominate the news, Christians are urged to focus on those being left out.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting has been canceled for the first time in 75 years in a unanimous vote of SBC officers, the SBC Executive Committee, and leaders of the SBC's boards and institutions.The June 9-10 meeting is not being rescheduled.

As countries across the world work to prevent the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, the Balkan nation of Croatia found its work complicated by a massive earthquake on Sunday (March 22) — which adds to the ministry work of the small Baptist community there. After a 5.4 earthquake struck a few miles north of the capital city of Zagreb at 6:23 a.m. local time, relief efforts were complicated by efforts to keep social distancing amid the coronavirus outbreak.

After the pastor of a black Baptist church in Virginia tested positive for COVID-19, the church attacked local media for reporting on his case and how he may have put others in the community at risk. The pastor joins a number of clergy members across the country struck by the respiratory disease caused by coronavirus.