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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

Southern Baptists fight for control of U.S. House

By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor WASHINGTON (LBM) – Eight Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives together with 208 Democrats voted, Oct. 3, to oust Kevin McCarthy, a member of Valley Baptist Church in Bakersfield, California, as speaker. Matt Gaetz, a member of First Baptist Church, Fort Walton Beach, Florida, initiated the removal process, filing a motion, Oct. 2, to vacate the office of speaker, which precipitated the vote of no confidence that removed McCarthy from this key leadership role. McCarthy had known of his precarious position since January when he failed to win the office of speaker after 14 votes. He was successful on the 15th ballot only after he agreed to several concessions to a core group of Republicans, including Gaetz, who were reluctant to back him. One of the changes was made to the rule about the motion to vacate. McCarthy agreed to allow a single person to request such a vote instead of the previous requirement that a majority of the speaker’s party bring the issue to the floor. Consequently, eight Republicans, out of 220, were able to swing McCarthy’s ouster. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, a member of St. Catherine of Siena Church in Metairie, Louisiana, and Rep. … [Read more...]

SBC EC leadership woes persist

By Will Hall, Baptist Message exeuctive editor NASHVILLE, Tenn. (LBM) – The Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention continues to experience presidential controversies. On Aug. 17, Willie McLaurin resigned as interim president and CEO of the national entity after a committee, looking into his background as part of his consideration as a candidate for the permanent position, found he had misrepresented his academic credentials. McLaurin had served in the interim president role since February 2022 after serving as an SBC EC vice president since 2020. He had followed Ronnie Floyd, who vacated 2021 in response to the SBC EC’s vote to renounce attorney-client privilege in an investigation into the alleged coverup by the SBC EC about sex abuse among SBC churches. Floyd had replaced Frank Page who quit in 2018 because of an admitted “personal failing” described in news reports as a “morally inappropriate relationship.” Meanwhile, Dan Summerlin, a retired Kentucky pastor who was announced, Sept. 18, as the candidate for the role of “transitional interim president and CEO,” unexpectedly withdrew his name from consideration on Sept. 19, only hours before it was anticipated he would be approved by SBC EC … [Read more...]

McRaney to appeal ruling in lawsuit against NAMB

By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor AMORY, Miss. (LBM) – Will McRaney announced Sept. 11 his intention to appeal the Aug. 15 ruling by the U.S. District Court Northern District of Mississippi that determined his lawsuit against the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention would force the court “to inquire into religious matters and decision-making to a degree that is simply impermissible under the Constitution and the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine.” In a statement to The Baptist Paper, McRaney contended that the court’s decision “is built around the erroneous concept of ‘THE’ Baptist Church as a denomination like the Catholic or Methodist Church.” Indeed, in legal filings supporting NAMB’s position, the SBC is described as “the umbrella Southern Baptist governing body over all the various groups of churches.” This contravenes the SBC’s constitution which declares it “is independent and sovereign in its own sphere” and that it “does not claim and will never attempt to exercise any authority over any other Baptist body, whether church, auxiliary organizations, associations, or convention.” McRaney further argued that the Court’s latest ruling results in a legal determination that “a … [Read more...]