Photo by Marc Ira Hooks

DALLAS—Jimmy Scroggins said his dad was a high school football coach, and the one thing he prided himself on the most was how many of his assistant coaches became head coaches.

“There were more than 50 who became head coaches,” said Scroggins, pastor of Family Church in south Florida. “He felt like that was a greater mark of his success than anything else he accomplished.”

That’s how he feels about mentoring — that growing up the next generation of disciple makers and pastors is “the best part” of being a pastor. [Read more…]

DALLAS—Recalling his early years playing football, Clint Pressley recalled how there were some players he was friends with and some he “barely knew their name.” But he still recognized they were “all teammates” — and cooperation and teamwork were critical for the success of the team.

“Every guy on that team was my teammate, and we played on the same team in the same direction,” said Pressley, president of the Southern Baptist Convention. “We were in it together.”

It’s the same for the SBC, he told messengers on Tuesday (June 10) during the opening session of their annual meeting in Dallas. [Read more…]

Jamie Dew, president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, speaks to the Southern Baptist Pastors Conference in Dallas on June 9.
— Photo by Marc ira Hooks

DALLAS — Jamie Dew told pastors that he had one simple but honest question for them: “Do you ever want to quit?”

“I can think of a million reasons we might feel that way,” said Dew, president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, as he spoke to the Southern Baptist Pastors Conference in Dallas on June 9. “The most important task to be done on earth right now is the proclamation of Jesus Christ — to stand in hard places, dark places, broken places, places where the oppression is thick and strong, and there in the darkness, preach Jesus Christ,” Dew said.

Preaching from 2 Timothy 2:8–13, he encouraged them that the Apostle Paul had talked about how ministry would come with a lot of difficulties and struggles, but he called pastors to remember the truths of the faith that would bolster their spirits.

He’s giving us reason to continue,” Dew said, noting four realities that should encourage pastors to keep going. [Read more…]

Updated curriculum adds safety coordinators and response plans for churches

NASHVILLE (BP) – The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee is relaunching its abuse prevention and response website with expanded resources to equip churches to create safe spaces for children and adults to worship God unhindered by abuse.

An updated Essentials 2.0 curriculum, blog posts from experts in the field and a centralized landing page for all related state convention resources are features slated for the updated sexabuseprevention.com, with some features already available.

Jeff Dalrymple, SBC Executive Committee director of abuse prevention and response, said the new website features will meet churches where they are, providing essential resources to help prepare churches before the need arises. [Read more…]

Baptist Messengers show their ballots during a vote at the 2021 SBC annual meeting in Nashville. File photo by Eric Brown. 

An open letter released today (May 22) urges messengers planning to attend the upcoming Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting in Dallas to vote to keep the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission as an entity of the SBC should the anticipated motion to abolish it be proposed.

Ten former SBC presidents signed the letter that also notes concerns related to ERLC and acknowledges that “every entity — including the ERLC — should be open to critique and committed to improvement. … We do not write to defend the status quo.”

Still, “there is a difference between refinement and eradication. A sledgehammer is not the tool for adjusting a mirror,” the former presidents state in the letter.

Read the full letter below. [Read more…]

NASHVILLE (BP) – An SBC entity president has expressed “grave doubts” about the usefulness of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) in Southern Baptist life. The ERLC and its advocates followed those comments with a flurry of defense for the Convention’s public policy Commission.

Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said he “has grave doubts about the utility of the ERLC. And it’s not just about the current moment.” He made his comments on an April 30 episode of the Baptist 21 podcast, adding, “It would be wrong for me to lead any such effort” to abolish or defund the ERLC.

ERLC trustee chairman Scott Foshie said in a statement this week, “For over 100 years, the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission has played a pivotal role in shaping culture and equipping pastors by bringing a distinctively Baptist voice to the public square,” Foshie said. “The board of trustees is steadfast in its commitment to advancing the future of the invaluable service the ERLC provides to its Convention of churches.” [Read more…]

Josh Sullivan
(Facebook photo)

JOHANNESBURG (BP) – Josh Sullivan, the pastor who was abducted by armed and masked men last week as he preached, was rescued yesterday (April 15) by police after a shootout with his captors in a nearby township.

Officers in a “multi-disciplinary law enforcement operation,” said a police statement, received information that Sullivan was being held in a safe house. On approaching the house the team observed a vehicle, whose occupants attempted to flee and opened fire after seeing the officers.

“The officers responded with tactical precision, leading to a high-intensity shootout in which three unidentified suspects were fatally wounded,” the statement read. [Read more…]