Good morning from a different setting for the SBC Executive Committee meeting at the BNA Hilton (Nashville International Airport), where the denomination’s administrative arm is gathering for its regular September meeting.
This is my 🧵 for @SBCExecComm news. @SBCExecComm For those who are new to this, the September @SBCExecComm meeting is primarily meant to deal with important business that was decided or forwarded along from the SBC annual meeting in June.
My big-picture story on that SBC annual meeting: tennessean.com/story/news/rel…

A 180-degree turn in the past 6 years has laid bare the volatile state of the politics of women in the SBC. Through interviews and data, I trace the shift from support for women in SBC leadership starting in 2018 to next week’s vote on the “Law Amendment.” tennessean.com/story/news/rel… Next week’s vote on a measure to enshrine a ban on women pastors emerged from a deeper anxiety. Rhetoric against women’s influence in the SBC has pushed out leading voices and disincentivized other Southern Baptist women to speak up. (🧵). tennessean.com/story/news/rel…

Just down the street from the Panthers' football colosseum, the United Methodist legislative Super Bowl is underway with three days left of the two week event.
This is my #UMC General Conference coverage day 3 🧵. To keep up with our coverage today, we have a new live blog ready for ya! #UMC #UMCGC tennessean.com/story/news/rel…

When a PCA pastor, who helped the Nashville Presbytery with pastoral oversight, faced discipline in Sept. over alleged misconduct, we didn't know about a different story of similar patterns.
Now, Tracy Wells tells that story for the first time publicly: tennessean.com/story/news/rel… This latest story revolves around Nashville pastor Ian Sears — the former chair of the Nashville Presbytery’s shepherding committee — but it speaks more broadly to issues of clergy accountability in the presbytery and throughout the PCA.🧵 tennessean.com/story/news/rel…

New 🧵on responses to an amicus brief the SBC and other Southern Baptist entities filed in a Kentucky Supreme Court case. The brief is from April, but a @courierjournal story on Tuesday brought it to the attention of much of the SBC. 🧵 courier-journal.com/story/news/cri… The story of the response to this amicus brief () is as much about the legal questions as it is the PR fallout. Many SBC Executive Committee leaders (including its trustees) learned about the brief for the first time from Tuesday’s @courierjournal article.appellatepublic.kycourts.net/api/api/v1/pub…

The Nashville Presbytery deemed a local PCA pastor unfit for ministry (censure of deposition) after determining a report of sexual misconduct to be credible. That pastor was chair of a presbytery committee that evaluated misconduct by ministers. My latest: tennessean.com/story/news/rel… A short backstory to this article (🧵). It started through my ongoing reporting on Scott Sauls, senior pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church, and his discipline with the Nashville Presbytery.
ICYMI, my most recent story on that: tennessean.com/story/news/rel…

Full house at McKendree UMC in downtown Nashville, where a Moral Monday rally led by @RevDrBarber will start. The rally will lead into a March to the state Capitol. For more details on the event:

https://twitter.com/liamsadams/status/1647974934734417921

Following the shooting at The Covenant School, a private Christian school in Nashville, Nashvillians and Tennesseans of different faith backgrounds are responding. There’s been an outpouring of responses, so I’ll try my best to keep it updated. (🧵) According to the web magazine of the Presbyterian Church in America, the denomination Covenant Presbyterian Church and The Covenant School are affiliated with:

https://twitter.com/PCAByFaith/status/1640481657110122501?s=20

Local Southern Baptist officials are the first line of defense in abuse prevention and response. But in east metro Atlanta, the opposite happened.
My story on the decisions by local SBC officials and the betrayal survivors felt: tennessean.com/story/news/rel… Our article is about a story that has gained attention since @Meighanmaiam began speaking out (religionandjustice.com/blog). Our story adds to Meighan’s, while also giving special focus to a certain Southern Baptist official. (🧵)

Ravi Zacharias relied on powerful allies for help after the first abuse allegations emerged against him in 2017. One of the earliest and most consistent allies was Johnny Hunt, who is returning to ministry amid his own abuse allegations.
My story: tennessean.com/story/news/rel… Hunt vouched for Zacharias, helping Zacharias protect upcoming speaking gigs in 2018. It was key to helping Zacharias regain some control of the narrative at a critical moment (🧵). tennessean.com/story/news/rel…

🧵 Today kicks off the two-day ReAwaken America Tour at Global Vision Bible Church in Mt. Juliet. Starting this 🧵 for my coverage throughout the day. Here's our preview from yesterday: tennessean.com/story/news/rel… Update: And thus begins our coverage of the ReAwaken America Tour Nashville. The day started off with major traffic issues for the area around Greg Locke's church. From me and @AndyHumbles: tennessean.com/story/news/rel…

The ReAwaken America Tour is coming to the Nashville area this weekend at Pastor Greg Locke's church. Speakers include more typical big names (Michael Flynn, Roger Stone, Sean Feucht), but also local political and faith leaders. Full schedule here: thrivetimeshow.com/reawaken-ameri… Ahead of the first day of the ReAwaken America Tour on Friday, local faith leaders are holding a prayer vigil against Christian nationalism this evening, followed by a news conference tomorrow.

https://twitter.com/FaithAdvocates/status/1615785886809047040?s=20

“We express our deep apologies to our community that this abuse took place in the history of our church.”
Bethany Baptist Church acknowledges its history of abuse and shows support for @ValerieLSwope, a survivor who shared her story with us last fall. bethanylouisville.com/about-us/a-pai… Commenting on the statement from Bethany Baptist, @ValerieLSwope said on Facebook, "Over the last 2 decades I have often had extreme emotions about the silence from Bethany Baptist Church...Some of my own paint about that melted away today." m.facebook.com/story.php?stor…

For months, we’ve been studying practices at Ramsey Solutions that uphold a conservative Christian ethic and the company’s rights to hold those views. We reviewed 1,500 pages of court records, while a former employee shared her story with us. tennessean.com/story/news/rel… (🧵) Experts in corporate law told me a company like Ramsey Solutions is entitled to its religious beliefs but urge the companies to apply their beliefs in a way that’s clear, consistent, and informed by training in Title VII compliance. tennessean.com/story/news/rel…

Valerie Swope (@ValerieLSwope) is a survivor of clergy sexual abuse and is sharing her story for the first time in this way.
It’s a story about her first and foremost. But it’s also a story of the SBC and how it’s responding to a crisis of sexual abuse. tennessean.com/story/news/rel… Valerie shared her story for the first time on Oct. 10, 2002. She was 19 and she told leaders at Bethany Baptist Church in Louisville, KY, that she and the youth pastor at the time, Christian Watts, had been having sex starting when she was 16. (🧵) tennessean.com/story/news/rel…

Today is when a long-awaited report is released with findings from an investigation into SBC leaders' response to sexual abuse w/in the last 2 decades.

Not knowing what this day or future ones will hold, I’m starting this thread to log updates, statements, articles, etc.
#SBC The report is expected to be released at 1 p.m. PT at the website for the SBC sexual abuse task force: sataskforce.net
#SBC

Southern Baptists are calling for more transparency. For some, that means taking a close look at how SBC entities are using nondisclosure agreements. I took a close look and was surprised at what I found. tennessean.com/story/news/rel… I obtained five nondisclosure agreements for five Southern Baptist Convention-affiliated entities dated between 2019 – 2021. None of the circumstances were identical. tennessean.com/story/news/rel…

Gov. Bill Lee aims to partner with Hillsdale College, a conservative school in Michigan, to provide teachers with new curriculum and develop new charter schools. Since an announcement on Monday, here’s what I learned about the prospective partnership. tennessean.com/story/news/pol… First, what is Hillsdale? A home to about 1,500 undergrad and grad students. It has preserved a Christian identity since its founding, which it has since infused with intellectual, cultural and political conservatism, @AdamLaats explained to me.

Nashville’s largest Reform Jewish synagogue selected a new senior rabbi to succeed its current one. But the decision wasn’t reached without controversy. My look into what happened at The Temple: tennessean.com/story/news/rel… Members of The Temple voted at 387-81 at a Jan. 20 meeting to approve a board recommendation to choose Michael Danziger as the next senior rabbi, according to a preliminary vote count announced at the meeting.

In June, the Southern Baptist Convention didn’t vote on a resolution that denounced January 6. So, where does the conversation on Christian nationalism in the SBC go from here? Turns out, the answer is slightly more complicated, but I still sought it out. tennessean.com/story/news/rel… Here’s the full text of Resolution 7, which the resolutions committee drafted ahead of the meeting, but didn’t put it before the convention for a full vote due to technical reasons.

So, I wanted to give a little more attention to the numbers for our story (tennessean.com/story/news/rel…).
Even though Ramsey Solutions is hiring a lot of people quickly, the number of employees leaving has also increased. At minimum, there were 112 departures in 2020 and 148 in 2021.

https://twitter.com/liamsadams/status/1483800005085380612

Again, I will note here the full response from Ramsey Solutions to our questions about the number of employee departures.