It is one of three churches appealing decisions recently made by the denomination’s Executive Committee to remove eight congregations from official affiliation.
A powerful Southern Baptist committee was looking to appoint a new leader Monday who could navigate controversies over its handling of sexual-abuse reforms and the ousting of churches with women serving as pastors.
Head of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, the public policy arm of the SBC, Leatherwood is calling on legislators to pass a law to remove firearms from people who are a danger to themselves and others.
Task force leaders have tried over the past year to talk a fine line between finding the best firm to set up a database to track abusive pastors and finding a firm their fellow Southern Baptists would accept.
A disgraced former Southern Baptist president is suing the denomination he once led, saying he was defamed by allegations he assaulted another pastor’s wife.
The woman pastor at the center of the SBC’s decision to oust Saddleback Church — the California megachurch founded by pastor and best-selling author Rick Warren — says she will continue to serve as a ministry leader despite her longstanding ties to the nation’s largest
The issue of who gets to be a Southern Baptist made international headlines last week after the denomination’s Executive Committee voted to oust one of the nation’s largest and best-known churches for having a woman preaching pastor.
The SBC Executive Committee has deemed Saddleback Church as “not in friendly cooperation with the Southern Baptist Convention.” The move comes less than a year after founding pastor Rick Warren left and was replaced by pastors Andy and Stacie Wood.
An Indiana Baptist pastor, Benkert played a key role in setting up an investigation into how SBC leaders have responded to the issue of abuse. He also reported a church that had platformed former SBC President Johnny Hunt, who has been credibly accused of sexual