News & Ideas

Wednesday's News & Ideas - 6/15/2022

  • SBC overwhelmingly approves abuse reforms
  • New SBC president
  • Saddleback remains SBC for now
  • LGBTQ+ rights sit-in at SPU
  • How Houston tackled homelessness
  • Student debt & journalism

Southern Baptists overwhelmingly approve abuse reforms, public database
Christianity Today: A month after groundbreaking report, SBC creates another task force to oversee reform plans: “Without action, there isn’t repentance,” said one pastor.

Texas pastor Bart Barber elected Southern Baptist president
Associated Press: Bart Barber is a staunch Southern Baptist conservative who would welcome bans on abortion, opposes critical race theory and believes only men should serve as pastors.

Saddleback remains Southern Baptist for now, after surprise appeal by Rick Warren
Religion News Service: Saddleback had been reported to SBC’s credentials committee after the megachurch ordained three women pastors. But the committee has not yet decided how to vote after feedback from local church messengers and confusion over what the word ‘pastor’ means.

The students staging a sit-in for LGBTQ+ rights at a Christian university
The Guardian: At Seattle Pacific University, students have spent weeks fighting anti-gay policies common among Christian schools

How Houston moved 25,000 people from the streets into homes of their own*
The New York Times: The nation’s fourth-largest city hasn’t solved homelessness, but its remarkable progress can suggest a way forward.

The Spark

Loans got me into journalism. Student debt pushed me out.
My degree was more expensive than my wealthier classmates’ degrees because I couldn’t afford to pay in cash, Carrington J. Tatum says at MLK50.

*access is limited for nonsubscribers



Sign up to receive religion news every weekday in the free News & Ideas newsletter

Signup options

Most recent News & Ideas

Monday’s News & Ideas - 7/7/2025

  • TX floods & Christian camp
  • AI Jesus vlogs
  • ICE arrests Iranian Christians
  • Christian documentarians in Ukraine
  • Pope Leo’s childhood home
  • Death of the English essay

Thursday’s News & Ideas - 7/3/2025

  • Religion in higher ed
  • Fast for Gaza crisis
  • Divided opinion on evolution
  • Ultra-Orthodox Jews
  • Dalai Lama succession plan
  • Black Pheonix

Wednesday’s News & Ideas - 7/2/2025

  • Clergy struggle to visit detainees
  • Jimmy Swaggart dies
  • Ethics of brain-dead pregnancy
  • Gun laws after Charleston
  • Ultra-Orthodox Jews & politics
  • What makes someone cool?
In Trust Center logo

Market insights for institutions facing critical transitions

The “Strategic Shorts” series offers theological leaders 20-minute videos of experts addressing issues of governance, innovation, and institutional change.

Learn More