ATLANTA (BP) – Charles Stanley, a former Southern Baptist Convention president and one of the nation’s foremost television and radio preachers, passed away peacefully at his home today (April 18) at age 90. Stanley presided over the two largest annual meetings in SBC history — 45,531 messengers in 1985 in Dallas and 40,987 in 1986 in Atlanta — when conservatives faced the most pronounced opposition to anchoring the convention in biblical authority. As senior pastor of First Baptist … [Read more...]
What’s in The Pathway? Here’s a quick sampling
JEFFERSON CITY – Browsing through The Pathway’s pages reveals an array of news and feature stories – close-up looks at the people and churches in the Missouri Baptist Convention who impart a witness for Christ in communities across the state. Some examples of stories covered during the newspaper's two decades in print are compiled below. To subscribe at no cost to the print edition of The Pathway, which is funded by the Cooperative Program, click here. Ukraine In the week after Russia … [Read more...]
Exclusive: Mohler places ‘nationalism’ in its biblical context
NASHVILLE – Al Mohler is no proponent of “Christian nationalism” despite the online magazine Slate headline: “‘Christian Nationalism’ Used to Be Taboo. Now It’s All the Rage.” Slate, however, erroneously stated in the fourth paragraph of an Aug. 5 article that Mohler called Christian nationalism “idolatrous” after the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. Mohler had used the word “idolatrous” five times during his “The Briefing” podcast on Jan. 21, but in context noted that “it is not fair to … [Read more...]
‘The Pathway,’ established 20 years ago, rooted in vision, thought & prayer
JEFFERSON CITY – “It was a venture of faith for Missouri Baptists to step out and do this. To start a paper, that's no easy task. “It takes resources, it takes vision, it takes a lot of thought,” said Bob Curtis, director of missions for the Mineral Area Baptist Association in Farmington. “And it takes a lot of prayer.” The Pathway, with a print edition and website, made its debut in June 2002 in St. Louis at that year’s Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting. “We did not know … [Read more...]
New book on Southern Baptists, race details conservative influence
EUGENE, Ore. – The Southern Baptist Convention’s turn toward racial reconciliation gained traction from biblical teachings, not the social gospel or liberal theology, David Roach writes in a new book, “The Southern Baptist Convention & Civil Rights, 1954-1995: Conservative Theology, Segregation, and Change.” “Over time, leaders in the SBC showed Southern Baptists that the Bible demanded a change,” Roach said in an interview. “When progressives within and outside the SBC tried to … [Read more...]
Augie Boto to retire from SBC Executive Committee
NASHVILLE (BP) – D. August "Augie" Boto has announced he will retire from the Southern Baptist Convention's Executive Committee effective Sept. 30. Boto, the EC's executive vice president and general counsel, notified EC President and CEO Ronnie Floyd of his retirement in a July 18 letter. His retirement brings his service "full circle," Boto told Baptist Press, having joined the EC as a member in 1995, the same year Floyd began his 1995-1997 service as EC chairman. Boto, 68, … [Read more...]
Paper’s sexual abuse report leaves SBC’s Greear ‘broken’
HOUSTON (BP) – A Houston newspaper, in reporting on instances of sexual abuse by pastors and others at Southern Baptist churches, has left SBC President J.D. Greear "broken over what was revealed today." "The abuses described in this @HoustonChron article are pure evil," Greear stated in a series of tweets after the Houston Chronicle reported today (Feb. 10) on instances of abuse by ministers, youth pastors, Sunday School teachers, deacons and church volunteers. Along with its … [Read more...]
Veteran, 92, took his last stand defending his wife
COLUMBUS, Ga. (BP) - John Dawson served in World War II in the Pacific theater and in the Korean and Vietnam wars on crews that catapulted planes off the decks of five different aircraft carriers. He died at age 92, however, by making the ultimate sacrifice for his wife of 72 years by battling a home intruder. As a leader in his American Legion post, as a longtime churchman and as a father of two (Ricky and Peggy), grandfather of seven, great-grandfather of 16 and … [Read more...]
Jimmy Draper named Executive Committee ambassador
NASHVILLE (BP) -- Jimmy Draper, former president of the Southern Baptist Convention and president emeritus of LifeWay Christian Resources, has been named "EC Ambassador" by D. August Boto, interim president of the SBC Executive Committee. Draper, who has maintained an active speaking schedule since retiring from LifeWay in 2006, is "someone for whom no introduction or explanation need be given," Boto said in an April 9 announcement. "He is someone whom involved Southern Baptists all … [Read more...]
UPDATE: EC’s Frank Page resigns over ‘personal failing’
NASHVILLE (BP) -- Frank S. Page has resigned as president and chief executive officer of the Southern Baptist Convention's Executive Committee, effective March 27 over what is described as "a morally inappropriate relationship in the recent past." Florida pastor Stephen Rummage, chairman of the Executive Committee, released a 300-word statement Tuesday afternoon (March 27) in behalf of the EC's officers noting the circumstances of Page's resignation: "Last evening, the officers of … [Read more...]
After 20 years in SBC post, Yeats to be renominated
PHOENIX (BP) – John L. Yeats, first elected as the Southern Baptist Convention’s recording secretary in 1997, will be re-nominated for the post during the SBC’s June 13-14 annual meeting in Phoenix. Yeats, executive director of the Missouri Baptist Convention, was serving as editor of the Indiana Baptist convention newsjournal when first elected as SBC recording secretary 20 years ago during the 1997 annual meeting in Dallas. Spencer Plumlee, pastor of Riverview Baptist Church in … [Read more...]
ERLC issues statement ‘seeking unity’
NASHVILLE (BP) – An extended statement, "Seeking Unity in the Southern Baptist Convention," has been issued by Russell Moore and the executive committee of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. Moore, in a 1,691-word portion of the March 20 statement, clarified criticism he had leveled at Christians who supported Donald Trump for president in the November 2016 election. The ERLC executive committee, in a 536-word portion of the statement, affirmed Moore's ongoing leadership as … [Read more...]