It's a familiar pattern in American Christianity — popular pastors spread their faith, invite scrutiny and often face fallout for their indiscretions, according to Deborah Whitehead, a religious studies professor at the University of Colorado Boulder. (Jimenez, USA Today)
Read MoreThe abuse victims and advocates calling for reform in the SBC are now watching Southern Baptist leaders within the convention try to navigate the kinds of denominational hurdles and roadblocks they faced for years from the outside. (Shellnutt, Christianity Today)
Read MoreThe Southern Baptist Convention, the nation’s largest and most politically powerful Protestant denomination, voted Wednesday to oppose in vitro fertilization. The move may signal the beginning of a broad turn on the right against IVF, an issue that many evangelicals, anti-abortion advocates and other social conservatives see as the “pro-life” movement’s next frontier. (Messerley, Politico)
Read MoreSouthern Baptists failed to adopt a change in their constitution that would explicitly state that “only men” can be “any kind of pastor” in affiliated churches. It is rare for Southern Baptists, who are part of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, to not affirm a measure with a second consecutive vote. (Banks, Religion News Service)
Read MoreEarlier this year, a panel of geologists rejected a proposal to officially designate the past seven decades, during which humans profoundly impacted the environment, as the new chapter in the planet’s history. But as these scientists spent years debating, the term became widely adopted outside geology to encapsulate the angst around environmental degradation — popping up in book titles, music albums and art exhibitions. (Grandoni, The Washington Post)
Read MoreSaudi officials say more than 1.5 million foreign pilgrims have arrived in the country by Tuesday, the vast majority by air, from across the world. More are expected, and hundreds of thousands of Saudis and others living in Saudi Arabia will also join them when the pilgrimage officially begins on Friday. (Magdy, AP News)
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