NASHVILLE (BP) – “Gratitude” and “Graves Into Gardens” singer Brandon Lake won big at last week’s Gospel Music Association Dove Awards at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. Lake took home the Dove for Song of the Year for “Hard Fought Hallelujah,” along with southern hip-hop artist Jelly Roll, who co-wrote and recorded the song with Lake. Other writers on the song are Steven Furtick, Chris Brown and Benjamin Williams Hastings. Lake and Jelly Roll performed the hit song together in the … [Read more...]
Housing now open for 2026 SBC Annual Meeting in Orlando
ORLANDO (BP) – Nearly 4,000 rooms across more than two dozen hotels will be available at noon Eastern today (Oct. 6) for booking through the Southern Baptist Convention’s housing office for next year’s SBC Annual Meeting in Orlando. Hotel options include something for every budget and itinerary. And that means those reserving rooms today can expect heavy traffic. “There will be a lot of people trying to make reservations as soon as the portal opens,” said SBC Convention Manager Lynn … [Read more...]
Orlando offers unmatched hotel options for SBC26
ORLANDO (BP) – While there’s still a little more than a month to go before room nights for the 2026 SBC Annual Meeting in Orlando go online for booking, attendees can begin viewing their options and making plans now. The list provided at sbcannualmeeting.net/hotels offers something for just about every itinerary and budget. “We have a lot of hotel choices and inventory for Southern Baptists who are planning to come to Orlando,” said SBC Convention Manager Lynn Richmond. “There’s … [Read more...]
Supreme Court instructs New York to uphold religious liberty
WASHINGTON (BP) – The Supreme Court has ordered New York courts to reconsider some of their previous decisions in light of the High Court’s ruling in the Wisconsin Catholic Charities case earlier this month. In that case – Catholic Charities Bureau, Inc. v. Wisconsin Labor & Industry Review Commission – the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the State of Wisconsin could not deny religious exemptions for certain ministries just because those ministries serve all people, regardless … [Read more...]
SBC appeals defamation case to Tennessee Supreme Court
NASHVILLE (BP) – The Southern Baptist Convention and other defendants lost an appeal in a Tennessee district court but have appealed to the Tennessee Supreme Court. The case, Preston Garner et. al. v. Southern Baptist Convention et. al., regards an inquiry made by the SBC Credentials Committee in the course of following up on a confidential report made to the SBC’s abuse hotline. Preston Garner, a longtime worship pastor and school music teacher, and his wife Kellie filed suit in 2023 … [Read more...]
DOJ closes investigation of SBC
NASHVILLE (BP) – The U.S. Department of Justice informed Southern Baptist Convention attorneys today (March 12) that its investigation into the SBC and its entities is closed. No sexual abuse-related charges were filed. “Earlier today, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York informed us that the investigation into the Southern Baptist Convention and Executive Committee has officially concluded,” SBC attorneys Gene Besen and Scarlett Nokes said in a statement to … [Read more...]
ERLC urges Congress to defund Planned Parenthood
NASHVILLE (BP) – The Southern Baptist Convention's (SBC) Ethics & Religious Liberty has issued a formal request for Congress to defund Planned Parenthood and is asking others to join. A letter from the ERLC to the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee (available on the ERLC website here) says, “The American people should not be forced to subsidize an organization that profits from the deaths of innocent lives. … Many Americans do not want their tax money supporting an organization … [Read more...]
Pressley, Leatherwood send letters to Biden, Congress in support of Israel
NASHVILLE (BP) – Ethics & Religious Liberty President Brent Leatherwood and Southern Baptist Convention President Clint Pressley submitted a joint letter today (Oct. 2) to both President Joe Biden and U.S. congressional leaders expressing Southern Baptists’ continued support for Israel. The letter comes on the heels of escalation in Middle East conflict and a few days before the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. “Since the inception of the modern state … [Read more...]
Harris in favor of eliminating filibuster to codify abortion rights
NASHVILLE (BP) – Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris told an interviewer Tuesday (Sept. 24) that she would be in favor of eliminating the filibuster for votes on abortion-related legislation in the Senate. “I think we should eliminate the filibuster for Roe,” Harris said in the interview on Wisconsin Public Radio. “And get us to the point where 51 votes would be what we need to actually put back in law the protections for reproductive freedom and for the … [Read more...]
Iorg announces reorganization of SBC’s Executive Committee staff leadership
NASHVILLE (BP) – A reorganization of executive level leadership roles at the SBC Executive Committee was announced Tuesday (Sept. 3). The move comes a little less than three months after Jeff Iorg became EC president. While there were no staff reductions, Iorg made changes to the EC’s departmental structure. Interim Chief Financial Officer Mike Bianchi was hired to fill that role on a permanent basis. “We are delighted Mike has agreed to continue with us – removing the interim title – … [Read more...]
Alabama Supreme Court rules frozen embryos are ‘children’
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (BP) – The Alabama Supreme Court ruled last week that frozen embryos are “children” for the purposes of a wrongful death lawsuit. The decision reverses two lower court rulings. The suit involved three couples whose embryos, created through in vitro fertilization (IVF) at a fertility clinic in Mobile, were accidentally destroyed. “Every unborn life is a human being,” said Liberty Counsel’s Mat Staver in a statement. “Every human life begins as an embryo, and now the … [Read more...]
Howe to serve as EC interim president, CEO
NASHVILLE (BP) – Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) Executive Committee (EC) Chairman Philip Robertson announced to EC members Friday, Aug. 18 that Jonathan Howe will take over the role of interim EC president and CEO following the sudden resignation of Willie McLaurin, Aug. 17. “The SBC Executive Committee’s bylaws require that the Executive Committee officers appoint an existing SBC Executive Committee Vice President to serve temporarily, pending full trustee board approval,” Robertson … [Read more...]