Essay: Management, not ministry, for Catholic women

PHYLLIS ZAGANO, in an article first published on Religion News Service, says while the Pope is acting on his desire to include women in administrative managerial positions in the church, he seems to have turned a deaf ear to calls for women in ministry…
Southern Baptists don’t get votes to add “only men” pastors language to constitution

Indianapolis, US RNS Southern Baptists failed to adopt a change in their constitution that would explicitly state that “only men” can be “any kind of pastor” in affiliated churches. The Wednesday vote, 61.45 per cent in favour and 38.38 per cent against, did not receive the two-thirds tally required during the second day of the […]
The Southern Baptists are meeting in the US city of Indianapolis. Here’s why it matters.

Indianapolis, US RNS More than 11,000 Southern Baptist Church members, known as messengers, will gather in Indianapolis this week for one of the largest, and sometimes noisiest, religious meetings of the year. The Southern Baptist Convention’s annual gathering is part family reunion, part business meeting and part church service, mixing singing and sermons with business […]
Women in ministry: Southern Baptists mull second vote to amend constitution to exclude women pastors

ADELLE M BANKS, of Religion News Service, reports on the so-called ‘Law Amendment’, expected to be voted on at this week’s annual gathering of the Southern Baptist Convention…
A vision to build on Rick Warren’s legacy: New Saddleback pastor sees women clergy in church’s future

DEEPA BHARATH, of Associated Press, speaks with Andy Wood, successor to Rick Warren at Saddleback Church in California, about his grand vision to build on Warren’s legacy and take Saddleback to the biggest cities in the US and the world…
Shifting views on women in ministry: Dr Mike Bird to speak about his changed perspective at Christians for Biblical Equality event in Sydney

Sydney, Australia The role of women in the church has been contested for centuries. Both complementarian and egalitarian perspectives cite Scripture as the basis of their beliefs about whether women and men have equal ministry opportunities. But what happens when a respected Bible scholar and theologian shifts in his position from one interpretation to the […]
Updated: Australian Catholic Church council only addressed “tip of the iceberg” when it comes to key challenges, says academic

Updated: 9.30am, 14th October (AEDT) Sydney, Australia Australian Catholics had only glimpsed “the tip of the iceberg” during the first assembly of the Fifth Plenary Council held last week and the failure to tackle some issues head-on was a stain on the church, a senior academic and member of the council says. John Warhurst, emeritus […]
Accusing Southern Baptist Convention of “caving”, US evangelical pastor John MacArthur speaks against women preachers

RNS US evangelical pastor John MacArthur, speaking at a celebration of his 50th year in pulpit ministry this week, weighed in on an ongoing debate in the Southern Baptist Convention over women preachers, claiming the nation’s largest Protestant denomination has lost faith in authority of the Bible. He claimed the SBC had taken a “headlong plunge” […]