MARRAKESH, Morocco — As early death toll counts have surpassed 1,300, Send Relief partners in Morocco are already meeting needs in the aftermath of the 6.8-magnitude earthquake that struck the African nation on Friday night. “Send Relief’s partners in Morocco immediately began providing urgently needed help and supplies within hours of the earthquake hitting this area,” said Bryant Wright, president of Send Relief. “As you can imagine, the focus right

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

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

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

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

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

NASHVILLE — Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee Chairman Philip Robertson announced to EC members on Aug. 18 that Jonathan Howe will take over the role of interim EC president and CEO following the sudden resignation of Willie McLaurin on Aug. 17. “The SBC Executive Committee’s bylaws require that the Executive Committee officers appoint an existing SBC Executive Committee Vice President to serve temporarily, pending full trustee board approval,” Robertson said

NASHVILLE — The leader of the committee searching for the next president and CEO of the SBC Executive Committee says they are resuming their search. The committee is receiving resumes following the surprise resignation of Willie McLaurin from the SBC EC on Aug. 17. McLaurin stepped down from his role as interim president and CEO of the EC after confessing to falsifying educational credentials on his resume. He had been

LAHAINA, Hawaii — Search and rescue crews have covered only 25 percent of the search area around Lahaina after a devastating fire destroyed the town and claimed at least 99 lives a week ago. Crews are using cadaver dogs to search for human remains. So far, nearly 100 deaths have been confirmed, though only three bodies have been identified. “The fires in Maui have quickly become one of the most