SBC

“According to Lifeway Research’s analysis of the 2022 Annual Church Profile of the Southern Baptist Convention, 1,253 congregations that were part of the Convention in 2021 were no longer connected in 2022.” - Lifeway

The four candidates “addressed issues such as sexual abuse reforms… a constitutional amendment calling for only males to serve as pastors of any kind, what is ‘friendly cooperation’ in the SBC and transparency among entities.” - Baptist Press

“now comes Wingfield’s report that The North American Mission Board, the International Mission Board, and Guidestone may divvy up the Executive Committee. A new covenant between the churches and the Convention, combined with the removal of the ‘ad interim’ SBC, would be the end of the Southern Baptist Convention system.” - Christ Over All

“Southern Baptists initiated the work of sexual abuse reform not in response to criminal inquiries or threats of lawsuits but due to an increasing burden and awareness that vulnerable people were suffering harm in many of our churches and institutions, which were vastly under resourced to care for and protect them.” - BPNews

“EC chairman and search team member Philip Robertson of Louisiana called Iorg ‘a leader that all Southern Baptists can unite around.’” - The Baptist Paper

“the Law Amendment does not make removal automatic. Someone would still have to refer such a church to the Credentials Committee. The Credentials Committee and the EC would still have to vote whether or not to recommend removal, and upon appeal so would the messengers.” - BPNews

Reasons included appointing women as pastors and failure to cooperate with the Credentials Committee in doctrinal and sexual abuse inquiries. - BPNews

“ ‘The Abuse Response Commission (ARC) is…. being started by a group of concerned, individual Southern Baptists’ who are current and former members of the ARITF.” - BPNews

“In his report to the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee Feb. 19, Bart Barber outlined new efforts to implement what he believes messengers have called on SBC leadership to do as the 2024 SBC Annual Meeting approaches.” - Baptist Paper

“A pair of new lawsuits, including one that includes civil RICO claims, come at a time when the SBC Executive Committee faces a fiscal and leadership crisis.” - RNS