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PROPOSED BILL WOULD ALLOW MINISTERS TO OPT BACK IN TO SOCIAL SECURITY

March 13, 2025

By Scott Barkley
Baptist Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. (BP) — A bipartisan bill may give ministers who decided long ago to opt out of Social Security benefits the chance to change their minds.

The Clergy Act, submitted by Sens. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH), would allow for a period in which clergy may revoke their exemption from Social Security coverage. Another version of the bill has been reintroduced by Reps. Vince Fong (R-CA) and Mike Thompson (D-CA) in the House.

A dual tax status accompanies one who becomes a minister – as an employee for federal income taxes and self-employed for Social Security tax purposes. The decision to opt out of Social Security must be made within the first two years one has ministerial earnings of more than $400 a year.

Opting out results in more take-home for the minister but sacrifices a large portion of anticipated retirement income. It may also affect eligibility for standard-priced Medicare as well as Social Security disability benefits should he become disabled before retirement age. Potential survivor benefits from Social Security may also be denied to a minister’s wife and children.

GuideStone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention is prepared to provide guidance to ministers should the Clergy Act become law, said GuideStone President and CEO Hance Dilbeck.

“Social Security complements the retirement benefits GuideStone provides to pastors and other ministers. So many pastors made the short-term decision to opt out of Social Security without understanding the long-term implications of that decision. GuideStone is grateful that bipartisan members of the U.S. Congress have re-introduced the Clergy Act,” he said.

“We believe that the opportunity created by this legislation is an important element of financial resilience for those we serve,” Dilbeck added, noting that GuideStone has sent a letter to Congressional leadership urging prioritization of the bill.

“[The law would] assist those who have dedicated their lives to kingdom work to finish well,” he said.

Per standard Social Security requirements, applicants will need to pay in for approximately 10 years before becoming eligible for benefits. A plan of notifying those who qualify will be submitted by the commissioner of Internal Revenue no later than 90 days after the bill becomes law.

In the Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999, ministers received a two-year window to re-enroll into Social Security. Fong and Thompson’s bill would provide a window until April 15, 2030.

GuideStone Vice President and Chief Experience Officer Christy Teeter said the bill would help bolster ministers’ later years financially.

“We are hopeful that the opt-in window created by the Clergy Act will help pastors not currently covered by Social Security to move closer to a complete retirement package and the enhanced financial security it provides as they move into that season of post-vocational ministry,” she said. “Should the Clergy Act become law, GuideStone will work to assist pastors who have opted out of Social Security to inform them of the steps and deadlines they may have to opt back in.”

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MATT QUEEN FINED $2,000, NO JAIL TIME FOR ‘LYING TO INVESTIGATORS’

March 5, 2025

The Baptist Paper

Matt Queen — Photo by The Baptist Paper

Former seminary professor Matt Queen has been sentenced to one year of probation, six months of house arrest and a $2,000 fine after being convicted of lying to federal investigators during an investigation into sexual abuse in the Southern Baptist Convention.

The investigation into the SBC included Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s handling of a report of alleged sexual assault by a student.

Queen pled guilty this past October to making false statements to federal investigators. He initially pled innocent to a charge of obstructing justice in the sexual abuse case involving an accused student. [Read more…]

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IORG ADDRESSES SEXUAL ABUSE, FINANCIAL REALITIES IN REPORT TO EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

February 18, 2025

By Scott Barkley
Baptist Press

Jeff Iorg

NASHVILLE (BP) — In a landmark address to SBC Executive Committee members, SBC EC President Jeff Iorg outlined plans for continued sexual abuse prevention and response, presented findings from the SBC’s sexual abuse hotline that clarify the incidence of abuse in Southern Baptist churches and shared steps for responding to calls for greater financial clarity from SBC entities.

His comments came Monday evening in the Executive Committee’s first plenary session of its February meeting at the Hilton BNA Nashville Airport and 11 months after Iorg was elected to the role in a special-called meeting.

Iorg told trustees he intended to address three issues of “general interest” for Southern Baptists. [Read more…]

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ERLC WANTS TO HEAR FROM SOUTHERN BAPTISTS

February 11, 2025

By BP staff

NASHVILLE (BP) — Southern Baptists wishing to provide direct input on issues addressed by the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission may do so over the next six months through a survey released by the entity.

“The ERLC exists to serve pastors and churches as a voice in the public square on issues important to Southern Baptists. We are excited about the opportunities before us with the Trump administration and a new Congress and want to amplify the voice of our churches before lawmakers and throughout our culture,” said Dan Darling, the church engagement strategist and a research fellow for the ERLC.

A flurry of executive orders signed by President Donald Trump dealing with sexual identity, abortion, men competing in women’s sports, immigration and more has necessitated the call for help to focus on key issues. [Read more…]

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TRUMP SIGNS ORDER ENDING FEDERAL SUPPORT FOR GENDER TRANSITION OF MINORS

January 30, 2025

By Laura Erlanson
Baptist Press

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump issued an executive order Tuesday, Jan. 28, stating that “the United States … will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another. …”

The order, called “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation,” seeks to strip federal funding from medical institutions that provide so-called “gender affirming care” to those 18 and younger. Such treatment typically involves puberty blockers, hormones and even surgical procedures that alter or remove body parts.

“Countless children soon regret that they have been mutilated and begin to grasp the horrifying tragedy that they will never be able to conceive children of their own or nurture their children through breastfeeding,” the order says. “Moreover, these vulnerable youths’ medical bills may rise throughout their lifetimes, as they are often trapped with lifelong medical complications, a losing war with their own bodies, and, tragically, sterilization.” [Read more…]

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HISPANIC BAPTIST LEADERS SAY LOSS OF ‘SENSITIVE LOCATIONS’ RULE HURTS CHURCH

January 30, 2025

By Diana Chandler
Baptist Press

FORT WORTH – The loss of a rule that prevented officials from entering churches to arrest immigrants accused of being in the U.S. illegally has hurt the Church’s witness, the National Hispanic Baptist Network (NHBN) said Jan. 29 in calling for the rule’s reinstatement.

The NHBN, a group representing more than 3,300 Southern Baptist churches, released its statement in Spanish and English nine days after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) overturned a 14-year-old rule that had prevented such arrests at and near sensitive locations including churches and schools.

Attendance at Hispanic congregations has already declined since the DHS revoked the protections Jan. 20, NHBN Executive Director Bruno Molina said in releasing the statement to Baptist Press. [Read more…]

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MCDONOUGH LEAVES LEGACY OF EVANGELISM

January 2, 2025

By B&R staff reports

Renowned Baptist leader and church-planting specialist Reginald “Reggie” McDonough passed away on Dec. 24 at the age of 88.

McDonough became one of the top Southern Baptist leaders while traveling the globe, teaching Christian church planters the importance of strategic planning in building and maintaining congregations for the Glory of the Lord.  [Read more…]

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JIMMY CARTER REMEMBERED FOR SPEAKING OPENLY ABOUT HIS FAITH

December 30, 2024

By Erin Roach
Baptist Press

BP graphic

PLAINS, Ga. — Former United States President Jimmy Carter, who spoke of his faith more openly than other modern leaders, taught a Baptist Sunday School class for decades and became the nation’s longest-lived president, died Sunday, Dec. 29, at age 100.

A member of Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Ga., Carter was a third generation Southern Baptist and the first U.S. president to call himself a “born again” Christian.

Despite this, his unsuccessful Democratic bid for reelection in 1980 fueled the rise of the Religious Right as evangelicals concluded he didn’t stand where they did on important policies from abortion to stopping the spread of communism, which threatened religious freedom abroad.

Carter “helped activate a massive army of politically minded evangelicals in the elections that followed — most of whom have voted for Republicans ever since,” Michael Duffy and Nancy Gibbs wrote in “The Preacher and the Presidents.” [Read more…]

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LESS THAN HALF OF AMERICANS ATTEND CHURCH AT CHRISTMAS

December 15, 2024

By Aaron Earls
Lifeway Research

BRENTWOOD —  As Americans make their Christmas plans, slightly less than half say they usually attend a church service during the holiday season.

A Lifeway Research study finds U.S. adults are split on whether they’ll be at church sometime this Christmas—47 percent say they typically attend church at Christmastime, while 48 percent say they do not, and 5 percent aren’t sure.

“The very name ‘Christmas’ originates in the church’s celebration of Jesus Christ’s birth. In the mid-14th century, the words ‘Christ’s Mass’ were first merged as a single term for this celebration,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. “While 9 in 10 Americans do something to celebrate Christmas, less than half typically attend church at Christmastime today.” [Read more…]

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BIBLE STUDY, CHURCH ATTENDANCE CAN DECREASE LONELINESS

December 10, 2024

By Diana Chandler
Baptist Press

PHILADELPHIA — The Bible protects against what the U.S. surgeon general has termed an “epidemic of loneliness” as harmful to health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, the American Bible Society (ABS) said in releasing its latest chapter of the 2024 State of the Bible. 

Bible engagement, forgiveness and church attendance all offer individual antidotes to loneliness, decreasing the malady by more than 50 percent, ABS said. 

Scripture engagement offers interaction with a God who loves “with an everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31:3) and a God whom the Psalmist in Psalm 139:3 said was familiar with all of his ways, the ABS said, and encourages church attendance that provides avenues for meaningful relationships.  [Read more…]

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