Church

The president of the National Baptist Convention, USA, closed the annual session of his denomination this week with critiques of cultural conflicts and Christian Nationalism.

On Tuesday, the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee called for a further week of deliberations with a special task force on sexual abuse after failing to agree on the ground rules for a third party review commissioned to study the denomination’s handling of abuse claims. 

Washington National Cathedral announced Thursday it has chosen contemporary artist Kerry James Marshall, renowned for his wide-ranging works depicting African American life, to design new stained-glass windows with themes of racial justice that will replace a set with Confederate imagery.

Rev. Timothy Stewart, the first international president of the Progressive National Baptist Convention, has died, his denomination announced. The Bahamas pastor served three years of his four-year term and presided over the virtual annual session of the historically Black religious group in August.

Female clergy describe having a sense of anticipation for years before this summer’s elevation of Rev. Gina Stewart to president of the Lott Carey Baptist Foreign Missionary Society. But questions remain about where Black denominations stand on women’s leadership.

Senior Editor Beau Underwood interviews Russ Dean, co-pastor (with his wife Amy) of Park Road Baptist Church in Charlotte, NC, for the latest installment of our “Behind the Pulpit” series intended to pull back the curtain on the minister’s life.

Members of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee remain divided on whether to waive attorney-client privilege as part of the investigation — despite the fact that SBC messengers voted for such waving of privilege. 

In this issue of A Public Witness, we take a look at two new survey reports on White evangelicals and Donald Trump to consider what they tell us together about the label ‘evangelical.’ We also join the chorus of voices searching for new religious identifiers.

The Southern Baptist Convention task force on clergy sexual abuse has completed two key tasks: picking Guidepost Solutions to be the third-party firm conducting the probe, and asking the Executive Committee to waive attorney-client privilege for the purposes of the investigation.

As significant numbers of Americans seek religious exemptions from COVID-19 vaccine mandates, many faith leaders are saying: Not with our endorsement. Various denominations are speaking out against such exemptions.