- Journal of the Mississippi Baptist Convention since 1877 June 17, 2025

Bible Studies for Life: June 22

June 17, 2025

David: A faith that meets adversity head-on • 1 Samuel 17:1-47 By Becky Brown About a thousand years before the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, another little…

Explore the Bible: June 22

Explore the Bible: June 22

June 17, 2025

MS volunteers help Southern Baptist Convention run smoothly

Jonathan Greer (center, sitting), pastor of Franklin Creek Church in Moss Point, volunteers at the 2025 Southern Baptist Convention's registration help desk in Dallas. (Photo credit: Tanner Cade)

MS volunteers help Southern Baptist Convention run smoothly

June 16, 2025

Effort to compel greater SBC transparency fails

Adam Wyatt, pastor of Bethel Church, Monticello, was elected Vice-Chairman of the SBC Executive Committee at the convention, and also served as chair of the Committee on Convention Finances and Stewardship Development. (Photo credit: Tanner Cade)

Effort to compel greater SBC transparency fails

June 13, 2025

ERLC survives, Constitutional Amendment fails as messengers submit 28 motions

Messengers vote during the 2025 Southern Baptist Convention in Dallas. (Photo credit: Tanner Cade)

ERLC survives, Constitutional Amendment fails as messengers submit 28 motions

June 12, 2025

Tennessee Supreme Court
hears defamation case
against SBC, others
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (BP) — Tennessee Supreme Court justices sought clarity regarding the church autonomy doctrine Jan. 8 in a case focused on the Southern Baptist Convention’s protocols to address claims of sexual abuse. Attorneys for Preston Garner, who has brought a defamation lawsuit against the SBC and others, asserted that a letter sent in the early days of 2023 stemming from a report to the SBC abuse hotline led to Garner’s dismissal at a Christian school and the simultaneous withdrawal of a job offer at a church. Representation for the defendants said the matter was an example of “internal governance." “Religious bodies have religious ways of approaching [these matters],” said Becket attorney Daniel Blomberg, representing the SBC et. al. “… That’s obviously the case here, where the religious polity really plays a significant role in how the convention itself can interact with its member churches.” Matt Rice, solicitor general for the State of Tennessee, spoke on the matter of church autonomy. “The very process of requiring religious institutions to engage in litigation over matters of their faith doctrine and internal governance, itself, causes a constitutional harm under the religion clauses,” he said. “We think this court should recognize as much.”