Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835
October 6, 2025
By Scott BarkleyBaptist PressWASHINGTON (BP) – The case of a Colorado counselor’s right to express her faith values while discussing issues such as same-sex attraction and gender identity with adolescents will appear before the Supreme Court on Tuesday, Oct. 7. Kaley Chiles, a licensed counselor, argues that the state’s 2019 Minor Conversion Therapy Law infringes on her […]
September 30, 2025
By Scott BarkleyBaptist PressNASHVILLE (BP) – Executive Committee members discussed the potential merits and risks of filing countersuits in cases with fraudulent claims of EC responsibility at their fall meeting on Sept. 23. The conversation came from a motion at June’s Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting that instructed the SBC’s legal counsel to countersue former SBC President […]
September 30, 2025
By IMB StaffInternational Mission Board news roomCHESTER, Va.—International Mission Board trustees approved 54 fully funded missionaries for appointment during their Sept. 24-25 meeting near Richmond, Virginia. The missionaries approved for appointment were recognized during a Sending Celebration on Wednesday evening at Ironbridge Baptist Church in Chester, Virginia. Willie Smith, second vice chair, opened Thursday’s plenary […]
September 30, 2025
By Laura Erlanson, Scott BarkleyBaptist PressNASHVILLE (BP) – Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee members addressed referrals from messengers to the 2025 SBC Annual Meeting, heard reports and celebrated the highest Lifeway summer camps’ missions offering in eight years at their fall meeting, Sept. 22-23. One messenger suggestion adopted by the EC was the formation of […]
September 18, 2025
By Aaron EarlsLifeway Christian ResourcesBRENTWOOD — Few pastors step away from the pulpit, but what compels those who quit? Lifeway Research found only 1.1 percent of all U.S. Protestant pastors leave pastoral ministry before retirement age each year. Analysis comparing Lifeway Research’s studies of current and former Protestant pastors reveals factors that predict the likelihood of leaving pastoral ministry. “Experts can theorize […]
September 16, 2025
By Jennifer Davis RashThe Baptist PaperWASHINGTON — The board of trustees for the SBC’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission named an interim president today (Sept. 16) during their regularly scheduled September meeting, held this year in Washington D.C. — longtime denominational leader and pastor Gary Hollingsworth. The vote was unanimous. Now living in the Birmingham, Alabama, […]
September 15, 2025
By Scott Barkley Baptist PressWASHINGTON D.C. (BP) – A task force commissioned by the Trump Administration earlier this year has issued a preliminary report containing examples where Christians’ “political, social, and humanitarian contributions [were] devalued, their beliefs marginalized, and their communities unlawfully targeted” by the White House’s previous occupants. The “consistent and systemic pattern of […]
September 12, 2025
By Brandon PorterBaptist PressCHARLOTTE, N.C. (BP) – SBC President Clint Pressley calls on pastors and churches to spend a dedicated time in prayer for the nation this Sunday (Sept. 14) in a video released on Sept. 11. “Our nation needs us to ask God to help,” Pressley said, “God has providentially placed us where we […]
September 12, 2025
By Scott BarkleyBaptist PressOREM, Utah (BP) – Celebratory poppers. That’s what Scott Harding thought he heard before seeing Charlie Kirk, seated about 25 feet away, go down to the floor. Harding had become a fan of Kirk’s method for engaging others through his Christian faith, using dialogue and debate as a way to bring about […]
September 11, 2025
By Brandon PorterBaptist PressOREM, Utah (BP) – Conservative advocate Charlie Kirk was killed by a gunman at Utah Valley University Wednesday (Sept. 10). President Donald Trump paid tribute to the leader via social media calling him great and legendary. Kirk is the co-founder and president of Turning Point USA, a non-profit aimed at spreading conservative principles on […]
September 5, 2025
By Diana ChandlerBaptist PressWASHINGTON (BP) – The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) should not pay for abortions nor counsel expectant mothers to end their unborn babies’ lives, Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) Acting President Miles Mullin said in a letter to the department Sept. 3. “Under statutory requirements, the VA medical […]
September 4, 2025
By Aaron EarlsLifeway Christian ResourcesPastors have a lot of thoughts about discipleship, but they aren’t sure it’s happening in their churches. In the first part of the State of Discipleship study from Lifeway Research, U.S. Protestant pastors shared their understanding of what discipleship means and how it best occurs. The full State of Discipleship will […]