Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835
July 13, 2020
Baptist Press WASHINGTON (BP) — Churches should partner with government officials to fight the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) while receiving First Amendment protections as they cooperate, the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission said in a new statement. The ERLC issued a document July 10 that provides guidance to church and civic leaders […]
July 8, 2020
Baptist Press WASHINGTON — Pro-life leaders expressed deep disappointment with the U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal 29 to uphold a Louisiana law designed to protect the lives and health of women by requiring hospital admitting privileges for doctors who perform abortions. In a 5-4 decision, the high court ruled the law — which mandated a physician […]
June 24, 2020
By Margaret Colson ASBP executive secretary MARIETTA, Ga. — Meeting virtually for the first time in the organization’s 125-year history, approximately 25 members of the Association of State Baptist Publications (ASBP) elected a president-elect and honored two retiring state Baptist editors in a business meeting convened by 2020–21 ASBP President Jennifer Davis Rash. ASBP members […]
June 24, 2020
By Aaron Earls LifeWay Christian Resources NASHVILLE — A growing number of Southern Baptist churches are home to a shrinking number of Southern Baptists. Total membership in the Southern Baptist Convention fell almost 2 percent to 14,525,579 from 2018 to 2019, according to the Annual Church Profile compiled by LifeWay Christian Resources in cooperation with […]
June 16, 2020
By Diana Chandler Baptist Press NASHVILLE — The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee elected its first African American chair in a special called meeting Tuesday. Rolland Slade, pastor of Meridian Baptist Church in El Cajon, Calif., was unopposed as EC chair and was unanimously elected by ballot vote. Outgoing chair Mike Stone called for a […]
June 15, 2020
By Tom Strode Baptist Press WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court issued a watershed decision on gay and transgender rights today (June 15) by finding longstanding, non-discrimination protections in federal workplace law cover “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.” The justices ruled in a 6-3 opinion the category “sex” in Title VII of the 1964 Civil […]
June 10, 2020
By Diana Chandler Baptist Press DURHAM, N.C. — Promoting diversity, unity, missions and sex abuse prevention are goals the Southern Baptist Convention must continue to pursue in order to put the “Gospel Above All,” SBC president J.D. Greear said in his 2020 presidential address on June 9. Speaking from his office at The Summit Church […]
June 10, 2020
By Caroline Anderson IMB writer On June 9, the International Mission Board commissioned 61 missionaries in a virtual Sending Celebration. The missionaries represent churches in 15 states and will be serving in all nine of the IMB’s affinities. Sending Celebrations provide a forum for Southern Baptists to commission new missionaries and hear their call to […]
June 10, 2020
By Tess Schoonhoven Baptist Press CLINTON, Miss. — Tiki Broome, interim student pastor at First Baptist Church of Yazoo City, Miss., woke up on the morning of June 2 to find a racial slur keyed into the side of his car. Broome, who said he had been outspoken about racial injustice, had recently received some […]
June 1, 2020
By Baptist Press staff NASHVILLE — Southern Baptist leaders have published a statement grieving the recent death of George Floyd and calling for the end of “racial inequity in the distribution of justice in our country.” The statement, co-authored by SBC president J.D. Greear and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary president Jamie Dew, was unanimously […]
May 29, 2020
By Diana Chandler Baptist Press MINNEAPOLIS — Southern Baptist leaders are lamenting the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in Minneapolis after a white police officer used a knee to pin his neck to the pavement for several minutes. Floyd had repeatedly said he could not breathe. “I am disturbed, brokenhearted, and […]
May 27, 2020
By Tobin Perry Southern Baptist TEXAN HOUSTON — Listening to the discussion surrounding the reopening of churches, Steve Bezner could see much of it revolved around a dichotomy of faith versus fear. As Bezner, pastor of Houston Northwest Church, and other church leaders studied the issue from a variety of angles, they began to see […]