Southern Baptists: After a slew of controversies, the SBC turns to a low-key leader to keep things cool
YONAT SHIMRON, of Religion News Service, reports that Clint Pressley does not have a national following or a big social media presence. As SBC president, his goal is to tone down the acrimony…
In the US, chaos erupts over SBC legal filing in Louisville abuse lawsuit
United States RNS Abuse survivors, along with some members of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee and the SBC’s abuse reform taskforce, have denounced a Kentucky court filing by Southern Baptist entities aimed at limiting their liability for sexual abuse claims. A brief filed earlier this year by lawyers for the Executive Committee, Southern Baptist […]
Church and politics: Some critics see Trump’s behaviour as un-Christian. His conservative Christian backers see a hero
DAVID CRARY, of Associated Press, reports on the continuing appeal of the former President to many evangelical and conservative Christians in the US…
Worship music: Big churches sound alike. Little churches are the ‘Wild West’ of music, study finds.
US-based worship professor Will Bishop said that focusing on the most popular worship songs can miss what churches are actually singing. BOB SMIETANA, of Religion News Service, reports…
After Roe v Wade: In the US, anti-abortion movement faces internal divisions
BOB SMIETANA, of Religion News Service, reports that in the wake of the Dobbs decision, abortion foes hope to ban abortion where they can and find ‘creative approaches’ like shareholder activism to punish abortion rights supporters…
In the US, two evangelical seminaries sue to block vaccine mandates, citing religious freedom
RNS Two prominent US evangelical seminaries are challenging the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate in federal court. Under new Occupational Safety and Health Administration rules, employers with more than 100 workers must require those workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The rules, which went into effect in early November, set a January deadline for those vaccinations. […]
Nick Challies, son of well-known US evangelical blogger, dies at college
RNS Nick Challies, 20-year-old son of the evangelical blogger and author Tim Challies, has died. “In all the years I’ve been writing I have never had to type words more difficult, more devastating than these,” the elder Challies wrote in a blog post on Wednesday morning. “Yesterday the Lord called my son to himself – my dear […]
In the US, flagship Southern Baptist seminary votes to retain slaveholders’ names on buildings
RNS The flagship seminary of the Southern Baptist Convention decided on Monday to maintain the names of campus buildings named for school founders who had connections to slavery. At the same meeting, the trustees of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary created a multimillion-dollar scholarship fund for African American students. “We’re not going to erase our history […]
Essay: The problem with the “reluctant” Trump vote
In an article first published on Religion News Service, JOHN FEA, a professor of American history and author of ‘Believe Me: The Evangelical Road to Donald Trump’, takes a look at the idea of the “reluctant Trump voter”…
Reparations fund announced by US seminary with buildings constructed by slaves
RNS An Episcopal seminary in Virginia has announced plans to create a $US1.7 million endowment fund whose proceeds will support reparations for the school’s ties to slavery. Virginia Theological Seminary said in a 5th September statement that enslaved persons worked on its campus and the school “participated in segregation” after the end of slavery. “This […]