By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor NASHVILLE, Tenn. (LBM) —During executive session, Feb. 23, the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee voted to remove four churches reported by the Credentials Committee to be “no longer in friendly cooperation” with the SBC. Meanwhile, the Executive Committee took no action against LifeWay regarding violation of SBC Bylaw 15.F. by a trustee but set up a task force in response to Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s suspension of trustees elected by SBC messengers. OUT OF FELLOWSHIP Towne View Baptist Church, Kennesaw, Georgia, and St. Matthews Baptist Church, Louisville, Kentucky, were removed from fellowship with the SBC for affirming homosexuality. TVBC voted to admit a male homosexual couple as members and SMBC was disfellowshipped by the Kentucky Baptist Convention in 2018 because the congregation supported the homosexual-affirming Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Meanwhile, Antioch Baptist Church, Sevierville, Tennessee, and West Side Baptist Church, Sharpsville, Pennsylvania, were ousted for charges of indifference to addressing sexual abuse. The Credentials Committee said ABC employs a pastor who confessed to two counts of statutory rape and … [Read more...]