A fight for the soul of the Southern Baptist Convention

Ronnie Floyd
Dr. Ronnie Floyd, president and CEO of the executive committee of the Southern Baptist Convention, speaks during the executive committee plenary meeting at the denomination's annual meeting Monday in Nashville, Tenn.
Mark Humphrey | AP

A reckoning is coming for Southern Baptists this week.

More than 16,000 Southern Baptists are in Nashville, Tenn., for the denomination’s national convention – the most high-profile gathering in years. The already conservative denomination is battling an ultraconservative faction within itself that says Southern Baptists are drifting too far left.

What happens next has the potential to further splinter an already divided evangelical America.

Issues the Southern Baptists will vote on include race, women’s roles in the church, and how to handle sex abuse. Sex abuse survivors will be paying special attention to that last one, since a letter written by former Southern Baptist leader Russell Moore was leaked earlier this month. It alleged that sex abuse claims have been mishandled and dismissed by SBC leaders for years and described in detail how many leaders bucked the call for sexual abuse reforms.  

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On Tuesday, the day the convention begins, host Kerri Miller spoke with two women who’ve been watching the SBC’s response to sexual abuse victims for years. They fear that their pleas for reform will once again be ignored. 

Guests:

To listen to the full conversation you can use the audio player above.

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