By Scott Barkley Baptist Press SARALAND, Ala. — Former Southern Baptist Convention President Fred Luter announced today (Jan. 19) his intention to nominate longtime friend and Mobile, Ala.-area pastor Ed Litton for SBC president at the upcoming annual meeting in June. “I have known Ed Litton for over 20 years. Our relationship started when we preached for each other as part of the SBC Racial Reconciliation Sunday during the month

By Scott Barkley Baptist Press BLACKSHEAR, Ga. — Mike Stone, pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Blackshear, Ga., and immediate past chairman of the SBC Executive Committee, will be nominated for SBC president at the 2021 SBC Annual Meeting, per an announcement today (Jan. 13) by fellow Georgia pastor Kevin Williams. “At this critical moment in our history, Southern Baptists need to be led by a trusted local church pastor

Baptist Press MOBILE, Ala. — Longtime pastor and Southern Baptist Convention leader Fred Wolfe died Jan. 3 due to complications caused by COVID-19. He was 83. At 70 years old in 2007, Wolfe heard God’s call for him to do something new. So, he planted a church. Wolfe’s ministry up to that time had included serving as pastor in North Carolina, Texas, Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama. In addition to

By Scott Barkley Baptist Press WASHINGTON, D.C. — Southern Baptist leaders condemned protesters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, occupying legislative chambers and various lawmakers’ offices. The SBC leaders called for peace – and called Christians to prayer. “Peaceable transitions of power have marked our Republic since the beginning,” SBC president J.D. Greear posted on Twitter. “It is part of honoring and submitting to God’s ordained leaders whether

By BP Staff With record pageviews, new content partnerships and a new site design, 2020 was a banner year at Baptist Press. We want to thank you, the readers, for the nearly 6 million page views and for reading the nearly 2,000 stories we produced this year. Most of all, we want to thank you for entrusting our team to bring you daily news for and about Southern Baptists. Here

By BP staff NASHVILLE — As days stretched into weeks stretched into months, COVID-19 seemed to spread everywhere — and into almost everything. Here’s a look at the top SBC stories of 2020 as selected by Baptist Press: COVID-19 – a global pandemic arrives 2020 was the year of COVID-19, with virtually nothing in life left untouched – and much of life going virtual, so as not to touch much