During the Missouri Baptist Convention’s annual meeting in St. Charles, a leading trustee for Southwest Baptist University urged reforms to the trustee selection process as he criticized MBC leaders for fueling controversy at the school in Bolivar, Missouri.
After Southwest Baptist University President Eric Turner resigned amid a two-year controversy over theology and institutional control, Missouri Baptist Convention Executive Director John Yeats wrote a letter to SBU faculty and staff.
In December 2018, news broke of a controversy at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Missouri, involving the Missouri Baptist Convention, theological debates, and efforts to gain institutional control. As the SBU-MBC controversy continues to evolve, Word&Way created this timeline of key moments.
Jeffrey Metzler, an undergraduate student at Southwest Baptist University, urges the Missouri Baptist Convention to stop its interference at his school. His column cites Word&Way news reports to document what is happening. Read full piece
Russell Jackson writes: The Missouri Baptist Convention’s “procedural” change in Nominating Committee rules is a major shift in substantive policy that should be voted on by the messengers themselves, not done in a back room by the MBC’s Executive Committee.
Report from Baptist News Global, which cites Word&Way’s coverage of the SBU-MBC conflict. Read full piece
Report from the Springfield News-Leader, which cites Word&Way’s reporting on the SBU-MBC conflict. Read full piece
Barely two years after being unanimously chosen by trustees, Eric Turner resigned Tuesday (Oct. 20) as president of Southwest Baptist University. His resignation, made during an executive session of a contentious Board meeting, comes amid a two-year conflict over theology and control at the school.
An accreditation body recently opened an inquiry into recent events at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Missouri, after an alumnus filed a complaint. The Higher Learning Commission decided the complaint warranted review of the institution that finds itself embroiled in a two-year controversy.
Rodney Reeves reflects on no longer feeling welcome by the schools he attended: Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Missouri, and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. Read full piece