NASHVILLE (BP) – Since 1925, Southern Baptists have given more than $20 billion through the Cooperative Program to fund its entities and missionaries taking the Gospel throughout the world. That news was delivered Sept. 29 by SBC Executive Committee Chief Financial Officer Jeff Pearson to EC President and Chief Executive Officer Ronnie Floyd on the eve of Cooperative Program Emphasis Month, which is celebrated throughout October. “The principle of our churches cooperating together truly … [Read more...]
EC motion funds Guidepost contract, attorney-client privilege to be ‘fleshed out through negotiation’
NASHVILLE (BP) – A marathon afternoon session that stretched past three hours, Sept. 21, ended with Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) Executive Committee (EC) members approving a motion to fund a contractual agreement with Guidepost Solutions for investigating claims of mishandling sexual abuse allegations. EC member Melissa Golden’s motion, which replaced the original one submitted by EC officers, authorizes a budget of up to $1.6 million – funded through the Cooperative Program – for the … [Read more...]
Litton announces chair, vice chair for Committee on Committees
SARALAND, Ala. (BP) – Oklahoma pastor Jeremy Freeman and Florida ministry leader Amanda Stanton have been named as chair and vice chair, respectively, of the Committee on Committees, Southern Baptist Convention President Ed Litton announced today (Aug. 31). The Committee on Committees will meet prior to next year’s June 14-15 SBC Annual Meeting in Anaheim. There, they will nominate members of the 2022 Committee on Nominations, who will nominate trustees for the boards of SBC entities in … [Read more...]
$2.7M government grant goes toward fetal tissue harvesting, report says
PITTSBURGH (BP) – According to documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, at least $2.7 million from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has gone to support a project at the University of Pittsburgh that includes the possible removal of organs and tissue from pre-born babies who are still alive. An Aug. 3 press release from Judicial Watch and The Center for Medical Progress uncovered public records from the National Institutes of Health (a part of HHS) … [Read more...]
Promise Keepers set to return to large-scale events this month in Dallas
NASHVILLE (BP) – In 2020, after more than 20 years, Promise Keepers prepared to return in a big way with a large-scale, in-person event at AT&T Stadium in Dallas. A speakers lineup led by Tony Evans indicated the group was headed back to the platform it enjoyed in the 1990s, when packed stadiums culminated in the 1997 Stand in the Gap event. There, the organization reported more than a million men in attendance on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. But like everything else, the … [Read more...]
Litton had permission to borrow from sermon, Litton, Greear say
NASHVILLE (BP) – Following the release of a video showing similarities in a sermon, SBC President Ed Litton and his predecessor J.D. Greear said Litton had sought and received permission to use material from a sermon earlier preached by Greear. The video, which was released June 24, contains six minutes, 57 seconds of interwoven clips from a sermon delivered by Greear in January 2019 and another by Litton in January 2020. Both messages, based in the book of Romans, addressed homosexuality. … [Read more...]
Litton elected SBC president in runoff
NASHVILLE (BP) – In the press conference following his election as the 46th president of the Southern Baptist Convention, Ed Litton spoke of family, healing and conversations to come. All of those dealt not only with subjects such as racial reconciliation and sexual abuse, but a Convention still divided over how to approach them. Litton, pastor of Redemption Church in Saraland, Ala., defeated Georgia pastor Mike Stone in a runoff Tuesday (June 15), receiving 6,834 votes (52.04 percent) … [Read more...]
Southern Baptists appoint 64 missionaries in Sending Celebration
Four missionary families with ties to Missouri commissioned NASHVILLE (BP) – International Mission Board President Paul Chitwood made a confession to the thousands gathered in the Music City Center on Monday (June 14). As 2020 dragged on, he said, challenge after challenge made the IMB’s goals seem further and further beyond reach. “I questioned at times if we would be able to do everything that is necessary to appoint, train and deploy new missionaries in the midst of a global … [Read more...]
Southern Baptists to vote on revised ministry assignments for Lifeway, NAMB
NASHVILLE (BP) – Messengers to the upcoming SBC Annual Meeting in Nashville will vote on proposed changes to the mission and ministry statements of Lifeway that, in turn, will affect the North American Mission Board. At the February SBC Executive Committee meeting, the Committee on Convention Missions and Ministry brought forward a motion to amend the missions and ministry assignment of Lifeway Christian Resources. Within those revisions, which were approved by Lifeway trustees in January, … [Read more...]
Rewritten business, financial plan awaits adoption by SBC messengers
NASHVILLE (BP) – Southern Baptist Convention messengers at the upcoming annual meeting will be presented an updated Business & Financial Plan approved by SBC Executive Committee members on May 11. At the 2019 SBC Annual Meeting in Birmingham, former SBC EC president and CEO Morris Chapman, acting as a messenger from Triune Baptist Church in Arrington, Tenn., presented a motion for the Executive Committee “to strengthen the fiscal accountability of entities” and “promote greater … [Read more...]
NFL pick Trevor Lawrence set on pleasing God
CARTERSVILLE, Ga. (BP) – Trevor Lawrence isn’t your typical 21-year-old, but he was a fairly normal church kid. In January 2019 Lawrence hit the national spotlight in leading Clemson over Alabama in the national championship, the fantastic opening act of a collegiate career that culminated in his all-but-guaranteed place as the top pick in tonight’s NFL Draft. Over that time, the spotlight has only grown hotter and the magnifying glass larger. Qualifiers like “generational” follow him in … [Read more...]
India COVID-19 surge prompts Southern Baptists to prayer, action
FORT WORTH, Texas (BP) – It’s been over 20 years since Rebekah Naylor returned to the United States after decades of work at Bangalore Baptist Hospital. But she still uses personal pronouns like “we” in referring to the efforts of medical staff there battling a horrific COVID-19 surge that is killing more than 3,000 per day. “It’s overwhelming, the sadness at the loss of life when you see the images on TV of people suffering, people struggling to breathe outside of the hospital and the … [Read more...]