ERLC President Brent Leatherwood Steps Down After Years of SBC Division
Chairman of Ethics and Religion Liberty Committee Resigns The chairman of the Ethics and Religion Liberty Committee stepped down on Thursday, nearly two months after the committee narrowly avoided losing funding during the Southern Baptist Conference Annual Meeting. Brent Leatherwood, who led the ERLC from 2021 to 2025, faced various efforts from critics aimed at […]
Shane & Shane Introduce SBC Worship to Assist Local Church Leaders
Shane & Shane Launch SBC Worship Christian music duo Shane & Shane have introduced SBC Worship, a new initiative designed to equip and unite worship leaders within the Southern Baptist Conference. This was unveiled at the recent annual SBC meeting in Dallas and aims to provide tailored training, resources, and events specifically for SBC churches. […]
Former SBC President Reflects on Jimmy Carter’s Complex Legacy of Faith
Former Southern Baptist Convention leader believes today's Christians can draw valuable lesson — both positive and negative — from jimmy carter's faith. Bart Barber, pastor of First Baptist Church in Farmersville, Texas, and immediate past president of the SBC, makes a similar point in a new column for the magazine. baptist reviewswhere Although he questions […]
Bible Sales Surge 30 Percent as Young Adults Search for Truth, SBC Says
The Southern Baptist Convention's publishing arm says sales of Bibles have jumped 30 percent in the past year, and at least two seminary professors in the denomination say more growth is likely. be driven into a corner By young people who seek the truth. The new data from B&H Publishing comes about two weeks after […]
SBC President and Pro-Life Leaders Criticize GOP Platform Shift on Abortion
The president of the Southern Baptist Convention was among people of faith and pro-lifers who expressed disappointment Tuesday at the new Republican platform, which weakens the party’s stance on abortion and, for the first time since 1972, does not include language explicitly referring to “the unborn child.” The 2024 platform, passed by the Republican National […]
Andy Stanley Denounces SBC for Removing Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church
North Point Community Church Pastor Andy Stanley criticized the Southern Baptist Convention’s (SBC) decision to eliminate Saddleback Church. Rick WarrenShe is expected to be expelled from the denomination in 2023 for barring female pastors. “His denomination expelled him from the denomination last year. Anything immoral? No. Anything illegal? No. Anything to do with money? No. […]
Former SBC president warns a Southern Baptist ban on women pastors will yield ‘A LOT of collateral damage’
The Southern Baptist Convention is holding its annual meeting in Indianapolis this week, and messengers will vote on the sixth item listed in Article 3, Section 1. SBC Constitution In effect, it banned women from being pastors.Expulsion“The churches that have them.” While many Southern Baptists believe the amendment is biblically valid and a means to […]
Former SBC President Warns Amendment on Female Pastors Could Cause ‘Collateral Damage’
A former president of the Southern Baptist Convention has warned churches that passing a women pastor amendment at this week’s annual convention could result in “collateral damage” and the loss of minority-led congregations. The proposal, called the “Legal Amendment Proposal” after its lead proponent, would amend the SBC constitution to declare that churches are in […]
SBC Lost over 1,200 Congregations in 2022, Lifeway Research Finds
The Southern Baptist Convention lost more than 1,200 churches in 2022, according to a new data analysis from LifeWay Research. of SBC’s 2022 Annual Church ProfileA LifeWay analysis released Tuesday found that 1,253 congregations were no longer part of the SBC between 2021 and 2022. In 2021, 2 percent of the SBC’s 50,423 active congregations […]