All posts tagged: International Mission Board

Heads of SBC mission boards say they will not fund new abuse reform nonprofit

Heads of SBC mission boards say they will not fund new abuse reform nonprofit

Published by Sam

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (RNS) — Leaders of two major Southern Baptist mission boards said they will not help fund a proposed independent nonprofit meant to implement the denomination’s abuse reforms. Plans for the nonprofit were announced on Monday night (Feb. 19) during a meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee. Leaders of the SBC’s Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force said the new nonprofit is needed to make those reforms a reality. “Given the current legal and financial challenges facing the SBC and the Executive Committee, the formation of a new, independent organization is the only viable path that will allow progress toward abuse reform to continue unencumbered and without delay,” Josh Wester, the North Carolina pastor who chairs the ARITF, told members of the SBC’s Executive Committee. “To do this, we have to do this together.” Wester said he hoped leaders of the SBC’s entities, including its North American Mission Board, International Mission Board and seminaries, along with SBC President Bart Barber, would help find funding for the proposed nonprofit, known as the Abuse Response …

Will the Southern Baptist Convention’s Cooperative Program crumble?

Will the Southern Baptist Convention’s Cooperative Program crumble?

Published by Sam

(RNS) — Put two Southern Baptists in the same room and before long they’ll find something to fight about. For most of their history, members of the denomination have fought over the Bible, politics, race, sex, gender roles, music, dancing, Calvinism and almost anything else they can think of. All that feuding has overshadowed their surprising ability to work together. For nearly a century, the Southern Baptist Convention’s Cooperative Program — which pools money to fund missions, evangelism and seminaries — has been a remarkable success, collecting more than $20 billion since 1925 and becoming the lifeblood of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination. But as the Cooperative Program approaches its 100th anniversary in 2025, the trust that made the program possible has frayed. Southern Baptists have faced a sexual abuse crisis that has undermined confidence in denominational leaders. Feuds over politics, race and the role of women in the church — which parallel the polarization of American culture — have dominated recent denominational meetings and caused some churches to withhold their mission giving. More may …