Southern Baptist Convention

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A cross and Bible sculpture stand outside the Southern Baptist Convention headquarters in Nashville, Tenn., on Tuesday, May 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Holly Meyer) ** FILE **

Southern Baptists to release list of known sex predators

By Mark A. Kellner - The Washington Times

This Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011, file photo shows the headquarters of the Southern Baptist Convention in Nashville, Tenn. Leaders of the SBC, America's largest Protestant stonewalled and denigrated survivors of clergy sex abuse over almost two decades, according to a scathing 288-page investigative report issued Sunday, May 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File) **FILE**

Independent report blasts Southern Baptist leaders for sexual abuse cover-ups

By Mark A. Kellner - The Washington Times

In this June 12, 2018, file photo, people pray for America at the 2018 Annual Meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Dallas Convention Center in Dallas. The SBC confronted a sex-abuse crisis in the form of an investigation by the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News. The newspapers reported that hundreds of Southern Baptist clergy and staff had been accused of sexual misconduct over the past 20 years. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News via AP, File)

Southern Baptists say giving, baptisms up in 2021, but attendance, number of churches down

By Mark A. Kellner - The Washington Times

Pastor Ed Litton, of Saraland, Ala., answers questions after being elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention Tuesday, June 15, 2021, in Nashville, Tenn. On Tuesday, March 1, 2022, Litton announced he will break with tradition and not seek a second term in the top office. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)

Southern Baptist president won’t seek second term, breaking decades of precedent

By Mark A. Kellner - The Washington Times

This Dec. 7, 2011 file photo shows the headquarters of the Southern Baptist Convention in Nashville, Tenn. The Rev. James Merritt, a former president of the SBC, has withdrawn as a visiting professor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest after accusations surfaced that he told a “racist joke” in private board meetings. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File) **FILE**

Former Southern Baptist head Merritt quits seminary role after report of racist joke

By Mark A. Kellner - The Washington Times

FILE - In this June 16, 2021, file photo, people attend the morning session of the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Nashville, Tenn. A top Southern Baptist Convention administrator is resigning after weeks of internal division over how best to handle an investigation into the denomination’s response to sexual abuse reports. Ronnie Floyd, president and CEO of the SBC’s Executive Committee, announced his departure Thursday, Oct. 14, in a statement. He said he will leave the post at the end of the month. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)

Baptist missions group tells new churches to nix women preachers

By Mark A. Kellner - The Washington Times

In this Tuesday, June 14, 2016, file photo, Pastor Ronnie Floyd, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, speaks to members of the organization in St. Louis. In a Thursday, June 10, 2021, open letter to Floyd, president of the Executive Committee, and Mike Stone, then-chairman of the committee and now a candidate for convention president, critics sought to show top leaders were slow to address sexual abuse in the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, more worried about the convention’s reputation and donations than about victims of abuse. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)

Southern Baptist executive Ronnie Floyd quits committee role, citing ‘deep disillusionment’

By Mark A. Kellner - The Washington Times

In this, Nov. 13, 2019, photo, Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. talks to Donald Trump Jr. about his new book "Triggered" during convocation at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. Liberty University has filed a civil lawsuit against its former leader, Jerry Falwell Jr., seeking millions in damages after the two parted ways acrimoniously last year. The Associated Press obtained the complaint, which was filed Thursday, April 15, 2021, in Lynchburg Circuit Court. (Emily Elconin/The News &amp; Advance via AP) **FILE**

After scandals, is evangelical Christianity’s image damaged?

By Mark A. Kellner - The Washington Times

Incoming Southern Baptist Convention President Ed Litton, left, and his wife, Kathy Litton, listen as outgoing President J. D. Greear makes remarks at the conclusion of the annual Southern Baptist Convention meeting Wednesday, June 16, 2021, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

New Southern Baptist Convention President Ed Litton greeted with baptism by fire

By Mark A. Kellner - The Washington Times

Illustration on scandals in the Southern Baptist Convention by Alexander Hunter/The Washington Times

Dysfunctional Southern Baptists: Repent!

By Cal Thomas

In this Monday, Feb. 24, 2014, file photo, Saddleback Church founder and Senior Pastor Rick Warren poses for a photo at the Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif. Warren has announced his retirement after 42 years of leading Saddleback Church in Southern California. The Orange County Register reported Monday, June 7, 2021, that the 67-year-old Warren shared the news with his congregation on Sunday. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)

Baptist pastor Rick Warren, ‘Purpose Driven Life’ author, announces retirement

By Mark A. Kellner - The Washington Times

FILE - In this Tuesday, June 11, 2019 file photo, Janene Cates Putman of Athens, Tenn., holds a sign during a demonstration outside the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting in Birmingham, Ala. Among the millions of women belonging to churches of the Southern Baptist Convention, there are many who have questioned the faith’s gender-role doctrine and more recently urged a stronger response to disclosures of sexual abuse perpetrated by SBC clergy. (AP Photo/Julie Bennett)

Growing number of Southern Baptist women question roles

By DAVID CRARY - Associated Press

FILE - In this Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021 file photo, Pastor Jim Conrad stands in the Towne View Baptist Church in Kennesaw, Ga. In its 2021 meeting, the Southern Baptist Convention’s executive committee voted to oust the church for allowing LGBTQ people to become members of its congregation. (AP Photo/Angie Wang)

Southern Baptists oust 2 churches over LGBTQ inclusion

By DAVID CRARY - Associated Press

Tithes rise during COVID, defying church collapse worries

By MIKE ELLIS and The Greenville News - Associated Press

Southern Baptists divided over politics, race, LGBTQ policy

By DAVID CRARY - Associated Press

FILE - In this June 7, 2020 file photo, Dwight McKissic, pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church, and his wife, Vera McKissic, pray during services in Arlington, Texas. As a student in college and seminary, then as a pastor in Texas, McKissic has been affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention for more than 45 years. Now he’s pondering whether he and his congregation should break away -- following the steps of several other Black pastors who exited in dismay over race-related actions of some white SBC leaders. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)

Some Black Southern Baptists feel shut out by white leaders

By DAVID CRARY - Associated Press

In this Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2020 file photo, a Catholic pastor receives the first of the two Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccinations at a hospital in Chicago. In a growing consensus, religious leaders at the forefront of the anti-abortion movement in the United States are telling their followers that the leading vaccines available to combat COVID-19 are acceptable to take, given their remote and indirect connection to lines of cells derived from aborted fetuses. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Anti-abortion faith leaders support use of COVID-19 vaccines

By DAVID CRARY - Associated Press

FILE - In this Tuesday, June 2, 2020 file photo, members of the clergy lead protesters in the Prayerful Protest march for George Floyd, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. Floyd died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers on Memorial Day, May 25. During nationwide protests, leaders from many religious traditions spoke out to support the peaceful goals of demonstrators. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

After turbulent 2020, faith in America faces more big issues

By DAVID CRARY and ELANA SCHOR - Associated Press

In this file photo, the Rev. R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, speaks to reporters on Monday, Oct. 5, 2015 about a conference in Louisville, Ky. Rev. Mohler is among a number of Southern Baptist seminary presidents to release a joint statement on Nov. 30, 2020, condemning Critical Race Theory (AP Photo/Bruce Schreiner) **FILE**

Baptist seminary presidents reject Critical Race Theory

By Christopher Vondracek - The Washington Times

Members of the choir raise their arms as they worship during a meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention Tuesday, June 14, 2016, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson) ** FILE **

Baptists lose membership, says new report

By Christopher Vondracek - The Washington Times