Women & African Americans Now More Likely to Leave the SBC, But So is Everybody Else
Though data shows declines across the board, departing members aren’t going far. Read full piece
A Georgia Church, Kicked Out of the SBC for Allowing Gay Members, Wants to Make Sure ‘Everybody’s Welcome’
Two weeks after being kicked out of the Southern Baptist Convention, Towne View Baptist Church celebrated its 32nd anniversary by formally accepting members the SBC said they should have turned away. Read full piece
Like Beth Moore, Many Women Preachers have had to Break Free to Follow God’s Call
Many women preachers and teachers say their call to ministry was inspired in part by Beth Moore’s example. Some have been able to stay in evangelical churches by avoiding the title “pastor” and going by “Bible teacher” instead. Others have had to leave their home churches.
National African American Fellowship Asks SBC Seminary Presidents to Help Defuse Racial Tensions
The National African American Fellowship of the SBC issued a statement Wednesday asking presidents of SBC seminaries to take steps to help defuse current racial tensions within the convention.
New Doubts Over Southern Baptists’ Limits on Women’s Roles
Among the millions of women belonging to churches of the Southern Baptist Convention, there are many who have questioned the faith’s gender-role doctrine and more recently urged a stronger response to disclosures of sexual abuse perpetrated by SBC clergy.
Purity Culture & the Subjugation of Women
Even before a member of a Southern Baptist church was accused of the Georgia spa massacre, motivated, he told police, by guilt over a “sex addiction,” the Southern Baptist Convention was under scrutiny over its teachings on gender and sexuality.
With Beth Moore’s Exit, More Evangelical Women are Challenging Strict Gender Norms
A new generation of evangelical women are following in the footsteps of Beth Moore, the popular women’s Bible teacher who shook up the evangelical world by announcing last week she was quitting the Southern Baptist Convention.
Jennifer Lyell Wanted to Stop Her Abuser by Telling Her Story. Instead, Her Life Fell Apart.
When pastors or churches talk about misconduct as a ‘moral failing’ instead of abuse, they send a message that victims and survivors are partially to blame. This can be seen in the response to Jennifer Lyell in Southern Baptist life.
Christian Leaders Wrestle with Atlanta Shooting Suspect’s Southern Baptist Ties
Years before being suspected of killing eight people in a suburb of Atlanta, including six Asian women, Robert Aaron Long was active in his Southern Baptist congregation, his youth pastor said Wednesday. Read full piece
A ‘Wake-Up Call’? Bible Teacher Beth Moore, Black Pastors Cut Ties with Southern Baptists
Popular Bible teacher Beth Moore may be the most high-profile Southern Baptist to publicly cut ties with the conservative evangelical denomination in the last year, but she is not the only one to go. Read full piece