News

DOCKERY INSTALLED AS SWBTS PRESIDENT

FORT WORTH, Texas  — Beginning his 40th year of service in Christian higher education, David S. Dockery was officially installed as the 10th president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary during an investiture ceremony that was part of the school’s Aug. 22 convocation service. Dockery, a 1981 master of divinity graduate of Southwestern, was the 2002 recipient of the seminary’s distinguished alumni award. He has served at Southwestern since 2019. A

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BCM STUDENTS SHARE CHRIST’S LOVE

FRANKLIN — Thirty-eight Baptist Collegiate Ministry students from across Tennessee spent their summer showing the love of Christ in unique ministry settings across the nation and the world. The students, representing seven different Tennessee BCMs, served through Send TN Missions, a ministry of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board that exists to provide ministry training and cultural immersion for college students, according to Jessica Jiang, collegiate missions specialist for the TBMB

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EC CONDUCTING INTERNAL INVESTIGATION RELATED TO WILLIE MCLAURIN

NASHVILLE — The SBC Executive Committee has begun an investigation into the circumstances leading to the resignation of Willie McLaurin. McLaurin resigned on Aug. 17 after confessing to falsifying his education background. He was serving as the interim president and CEO and was thought to be the leading candidate for the permanent role. He had served the EC as vice president for Great Commission relations and mobilization since 2019 and

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WOODMONT’S PASTOR ADDRESSES SBC, CBF TIES AND HISTORY

NASHVILLE — After the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting, many people in the church Nathan Parker pastors were upset. “They had heard press reports coming out of the convention and asked if we could face it,” he told Baptist Press. “Some members were calling for us to withdraw from the SBC.” So Parker called a town hall meeting. Woodmont Baptist Church, where Parker serves as senior pastor, wasn’t the only

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PASTOR HAS ATTENDED CARSON SPRINGS CAMP FOR 52 YEARS

NEWPORT — Longtime Tennessee Baptist pastor Jerry Foust has a love for both conference centers owned and operated by the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board at Linden Valley in Linden and Carson Springs in Newport. Though he supports both locations, Foust has a special connection to Carson Springs, formerly known as Camp Carson. He began attending pastor retreats, sponsored by the evangelism department of what was then the Executive Board of

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ADDRESSING GLOBAL HUNGER REQUIRES MULTIFACETED APPROACH

Editor’s note: Sunday, Aug. 27, is Global Hunger Sunday in the Southern Baptist Convention. NASHVILLE — For the 5-year-old Burmese refugee, the small bag of rice evoked a living thing. “It’s baby rice,” she proclaimed, hugging it to her chest. Terry Dale Hudgins, director of the Nashville World Outreach Partnership based at Tusculum Hills Baptist Church in Nashville, had taken a group of Burmese refugees grocery shopping. “You’d have thought

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BAPTIST PRESS TEMPORARILY RESTRICTS HOWE’S WEBSITE ACCESS

NASHVILLE — In a move to provide separation between the administrative leadership of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee and Baptist Press, EC interim president and CEO Jonathan Howe’s credentials on the Baptist Press site have been altered so that he cannot post or edit BP stories. Howe’s permanent role at the EC is vice president of communications. He was named the interim leader when Willie McLaurin stepped down on

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DR TEAMS NEEDED IN MISSOURI, WEST TENNESSEE

Editor’s note: This story, originally published on Aug. 23, was updated on Aug. 24 to include the information about West Tennessee. Wes Jones, disaster relief specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, has placed a call-out for Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief flood recovery teams that can respond  in Glenallen, Mo. According to reports, the Glenallen area received up to eight inches of rain in a matter of hours (as of

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RURAL CHURCH HOSTS CHRISTIAN MUSIC VIDEO FILMING

BELFAST — “Quiet on the set! Lights, camera, action!” These words rang throughout the sanctuary and surrounding area of Belfast Baptist Church in Belfast on Saturday, July 8, as the small country church became the setting for the filming of a new music video by Christian music artist Melanie Walker of Lebanon. Walker is a popular musical host and Bible teacher on the worldwide TCT Christian Television Network. Through the

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NEW SBC HEAD ATTENDS A DUALLY ALIGNED CHURCH AND HIS WIFE IS A ‘MINISTER’

NASHVILLE — The new interim president of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, Jonathan Howe, is a member of a church dually aligned with the SBC and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and where his seminary-educated wife holds the job title “minister of students and discipleship.” Based on actions taken by messengers to the SBC annual meeting in New Orleans in June, Beth Howe would be one of the female ministers

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