Statement of the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention Morris H. Chapman on Sexual Abuse Prevention
Indianapolis, IN, June 10, 2008 – As Southern Baptists, we have much for which to be thankful. Our pastors preach the Word of God with power. Our churches witness effectively to the unsaved in cities and communities throughout the country. God continues to call many of our young people to the mission fields of the world; a new strategy for evangelizing the United States has been launched. Our seminaries excel in teaching new theologians and training new pastors. Our moral and religious liberty convictions are well represented in the public square. Our publications are some of the finest Bible study materials in the world.  [Read More]

MY HOPE FOR OUR CONVENTION
My hope for our Convention is simple. It runs upon one premise. It rides upon one purpose. It rests upon one person. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. [Read More]

Statement of the President Morris H. Chapman on proposed changes to CP recommendations to be presented at the 2006 SBC annual meeting
The mention of a specific percentage in the recommendations has generated so much discussion from a variety of perspectives that we felt a revision would allow all Southern Baptists, from churches large and small, to enthusiastically approve the report, including the nine recommendations. [Read More]

Statement of the Chairman Rob Zinn on proposed changes to CP recommendations to be presented at the 2006 SBC annual meeting
When we voted on this in February, there was no intention that we're telling any church what to give. We as officers of the Executive Committee have been listening to pastors around us -- it is coming from large churches, mega churches and even small churches -- the feeling was that we're telling people what to give. That's not true. [Read More]

Statement of the President and Officers on proposed changes to CP recommendations to be presented at the 2006 SBC annual meeting
he president and officers of the SBC Executive Committee, in a conference call Thursday afternoon, May 25, 2006, concluded that the convention’s environment has changed dramatically since the February meeting of the Executive Committee when it received the Ad Hoc CP Committee Report and approved its nine recommendations. [Read More]

Statement of the Chairman Anthony L. Jordan on proposed changes to CP recommendations to be presented at the 2006 SBC annual meeting
While I am disappointed with the modifications made to the Ad Hoc CP Committee Report by officers of the Southern Baptist Convention, I greatly respect their right to lead the convention as they deem best. [Read More]

Stand For Marriage
Most of you have seen ABC TV's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition where they tear down a house and rebuild it. Unfortunately, there has been another Extreme Makeover happening to the American home. Some are trying to tear down traditional marriage and redefine it. In fact, we are only one Supreme Court decision away from legalizing same-sex "marriage" all across America. How should Christians respond? [Read More]

SBC Executive Committee President Morris H. Chapman Statement on the resignation of NAMB President Robert (Bob) Reccord
NASHVILLE, Tenn., April, 17, 2006—Dr. Morris H. Chapman, president and chief executive officer of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee, made the following comment on the news of Dr. Robert (Bob) Reccord’s resignation: Bob Reccord is a friend, colleague and brother in Christ. I will miss working with him as president of the North American Mission Board. He is both a visionary leader and gifted communicator, and I’m convinced he will have a significant and fulfilling ministry in the Lord’s service for many years to come. [Read More]

SBC President Bobby Welch Statement on the resignation of NAMB President Robert (Bob) Reccord
Dr. Reccord’s resignation signals the next great step and stage for the relatively new NAMB. As NAMB’s first president, Dr. Reccord assumed a Herculean task in the launch of that new and expanded entity. One reflection of his innovative and creative guidance led to the coordination of the state conventions’ disaster relief ministries. That resulted in an unprecedented and nationally recognized help to our world and nation as well as the pastors and people of the Southern Baptist Convention. Such leadership also explored and test a number of contemporary opportunities for reaching out to the lost world with the Gospel. [Read More]

Final Report of Ad Hoc Cooperative Program Committee
Southern Baptists have always been a missional people. From the inception of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1845 we have always rallied around the command of Christ to carry the Gospel to the entire world. At the heart of our local churches, and of all organizations and agencies beyond the local church, is the desire to share the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Cooperative Program was implemented to give each Southern Baptist a way to be a part of reaching the world for Christ through their local church. Sadly, we too often have allowed our focus to become ingrown and diverted from our evangelistic responsibility. Most of the strategies and initiatives in this report focus on telling the story of what we are currently doing through the Cooperative Program, but we must not fall into the trap of thinking we can reposition the Cooperative Program in the hearts of Southern Baptists by focusing only on what we are accomplishing. [Read More]

Final Report of Ad Hoc Cooperative Program Committee (Appendices)
Appendix A, B and C for Final Report of Ad Hoc Cooperative Program Committee [Read More]

Fourth Report of the SBC Funding Study Committee
The SBC Funding Study Committee (FSC) is an ad hoc committee of the Executive Committee, having been charged by action of the full Executive Committee in February of 2002 with the task of studying Southern Baptist Convention funding issues. The study was begun against a backdrop of recognition that the SBC seminaries faced financial challenges, although funding issues relating to all our entities are within the committee’s scope of discussion and review. [Read More]

Sanctity of Human Life Sunday
We remember tragic moments in American history when life was lost. When Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese, killing thousands of our young men, a somber President Roosevelt addressed our grief-stricken nation, and said: "December 7, 1941 is a day that will live in infamy." The same was said about September 11, 2001, when two planes took down the twin towers of the World Trade Center, another smashed into the Pentagon, and another crashed in rural Pennsylvania because some heroes rose up against the hijackers. But America will never be the same after 9/11. We lost nearly 3,000 Americans that day, a date that will also live in Infamy. [Read More]

Statements concerning Dr. Lonnie Latham - January 6, 2006
Click here to read a statement from Dr. Morris Chapman, President and CEO of the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention and Rob Zinn, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention [Read More]

Evolutionists in a Panic--What's Going on at The New Republic?
In the August 22 edition of the magazine, literary editor Leon Wieseltier sets the stage by attacking Intelligent Design as "an expression of sentiment, not an exercise of reason." In the online edition, reporter Ross Douthat argues that Intelligent Design "will run out of steam--a victim of its own grand ambitions." Then, the magazine offers a massive article and book review by Jerry Coyne, a professor at the University of Chicago. All this seems a bit much if the magazine's editors really believe that Intelligent Design is about to run out of steam. [Read More]

Appeals court upholds Pledge in Virginia schools, says 'under God' is constitutional
RICHMOND, Va. (BP)--A federal appeals court Aug. 10 upheld the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in Virginia's public schools, ruling that the phrase "under God" does not violate the U.S. Constitution's prohibition of government-established religion. [Read More]

MARRIAGE DIGEST: Cherokee couple seeks 'gay marriage'; Calif. group begins petition drive; Floridians favor amend.
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. (BP)--A lesbian couple in Oklahoma is seeking to become the first Cherokee couple involved in a "gay marriage," and tribal sovereignty would shield them from state laws that already ban such unions. [Read More]

'Sexual orientation' policy remains sore spot for Ind. governor
INDIANAPOLIS (BP)--Indiana’s evangelical Christians are continuing to voice alarm over an employment policy instituted by Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels granting special rights to homosexuals. [Read More]

Evolution incompatible with Christianity, Mohler says in TIME
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)--Evangelical Christianity and evolution are incompatible beliefs that cannot be held together logically within a distinctly Christian worldview, R. Albert Mohler Jr. says in the Aug. 15 edition of TIME magazine. [Read More]

Mainers may repeal 'gay rights' law in Nov.; Conn. civil unions may lead to 'gay marriage'
AUGUSTA, Maine (BP)--It's an off-year election, but the issue of homosexuality figures to drive people to the polls in at least two states this November. Texas voters already knew they would be considering a constitutional marriage amendment, and Maine voters learned July 28 that they would be voting on whether to repeal a recently passed "gay rights" law. [Read More]

Specter predicts Senate override of Bush veto on destructive embryonic stem cell bill
WASHINGTON (BP)--Advocates of federal grants for destructive embryonic stem cell research will gain the handful of votes needed in the U.S. Senate to override a promised veto by President Bush, a leader in the effort has predicted. [Read More]

Frist breaks with President Bush, endorses destructive embryonic stem cell research
WASHINGTON (BP)--Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist endorsed legislation July 29 to provide federal funds for stem cell research that destroys embryos, putting him at odds with President Bush and giving renewed hope to backers of the controversial experimentation. [Read More]

LIFE DIGEST: Two more deaths increase call to pull RU 486 off market; Roe v. Wade would not be binding on Roberts
WASHINGTON (BP)--Critics of RU 486 again are calling for its removal from the market after two previously unreported deaths were disclosed by the abortion drug’s manufacturer. Danco Laboratories in New York revealed July 18 that women in California had died in 2004 and in 2005 after using the two-step drug regimen to abort their unborn children. Danco has acknowledged two other California users of RU 486 died in 2003 and a Canadian woman died after its use in 2001. Other reports have cited additional deaths by RU 486 users -- three in Europe, one in the Philippines and another in the United States. [Read More]

For now, pro-lifers may have edge against liberal groups on Roberts’ nomination
WASHINGTON (BP)--The nomination of John G. Roberts to the Supreme Court appears at the outset to have provided pro-life advocates with a clear advantage in the latest skirmish in the ongoing conflict over abortion. [Read More]

LIFE DIGEST: Senate nears embryonic stem cell vote; Ill. gov. outflanks legislature; FDA sets ruling on ‘morning-after’ pill
WASHINGTON (BP)--The U.S. Senate is expected to vote soon on a bill to provide federal funds for research that destroys human embryos, and the Southern Baptist Convention’s ethics entity is seeking to curb support for the measure. [Read More]

LIFE DIGEST: Roe reversal would leave seven states with effective abortion bans; WHO makes RU 486 ‘essential’
WASHINGTON (BP)--Only seven states have laws that would effectively prohibit most abortions, if the Roe v. Wade decision were overturned by the Supreme Court, according to a new report. [Read More]

Calif. A.G. OKs marriage amend., but conservatives not happy
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (BP)--California Attorney General Bill Lockyer gave approval July 25 to a proposed marriage amendment petition, but not before making changes to the title and issuing a summary of the amendment that has conservatives alleging bias. [Read More]

MARRIAGE DIGEST: Alberta premier calls 'gay marriage' legalization 'sad day'; Ore. civil unions bill dies
EDMONTON, Alberta (BP)--There were plenty of traditionally minded politicians in Canada disappointed with the legalization of "gay marriage" July 20. None, though, were more disheartened than Alberta Premier Ralph Klein, who had fought for years against the redefinition of marriage. [Read More]

Canada legalizes 'gay marriage'; social conservatives say it will impact the U.S.
OTTAWA (BP)--Canada legalized "gay marriage," July 20, becoming the fourth nation in the world to redefine marriage and issue licenses to homosexual couples. [Read More]

Canadian senate passes 'gay marriage' bill
OTTAWA (BP)--Canada's senate July 19 cleared the way for the legalization of "gay marriage," easily passing a bill that would make Canada the fourth country in the world to grant homosexuals marriage licenses. [Read More]

MARRIAGE DIGEST: Spain witnesses first 'gay wedding'; civil unions pass Ore. Senate; settlement reached in Md. case
MADRID, Spain (BP)--The first same-sex "wedding" in Spain was conducted July 11 when two homosexual men exchanged vows in a small town near Madrid in front of family, friends and a crowd of journalists. [Read More]

San Diego voters approve measure to save memorial cross, but challenges are ahead
SAN DIEGO (BP)--Voters in San Diego July 26 easily approved a proposition that will transfer a landmark war memorial to the federal government and at the same time protect a 29-foot-tall cross at the center of the monument. [Read More]