BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (RNS) — Speaking at a black church Sunday (June 9) in a city that is nearly 75% percent African American, the president of the Southern Baptist Convention, J.D. Greear, said white Christians who are racially insensitive are disregarding the gospel.

“I do not need to tell this church the church of the West has had a horrible history of racism,” Greear, a pastor in North Carolina, told Sixth Avenue Baptist Church.

“And there’s one primary reason that that happened: Christians lost touch with the gospel.”

Greear, who had come to Birmingham for the upcoming annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, cited a verse from the New Testament book of Galatians in which he said the Apostle Paul issued a rebuke about “segregated eating,” when some Christians from Jewish backgrounds stopped dining with Christians from Gentile backgrounds.

“The gospel teaches us that there’s only one kind of person: human,” said Greear. “We’ve all got the same problem: sin.”

As some 8,000 of Southern Baptists arrive in a city once called by experts “the most segregated in the country,” Greear expressed hope that Southern Baptists also may amend their constitution to remove churches that affirm racially discriminatory behavior.

“I’m praying that even with our past history on it, that Birmingham for us this year will be a…

Although every major numerical indicator of success for the Southern Baptist Convention is trending downward, you would never know it from the tone in J.D. Greear’s voice. From the moment the exclusive interview with Christian Headlines started, J.D. Greear, who is the youngest ever Southern Baptist Convention president, had a tone of excitement and encouragement for the denomination that has weathered a series of tough terrain during his first year as its head. It is something that Greear does not shy away from addressing.

“It’s been challenging and difficult at times, but inspiring to see what God is doing within the 48,000 Southern Baptist Churches,” the SBC president told CH. During his first year as president, it was uncovered by the Houston Chronicle that a number of Southern Baptist churches and pastors had concealed sexual abuse issues.

According to Greear, “We do not want to create a safe place within our churches for anyone who is not there for the right reasons.” There have been some within the denomination who have not agreed with Greear and the policies that he has developed in handling the sexual abuse cases. Greear, however, believes that he did the right thing, and a vast majority of Southern Baptists agree with him. “Handling this issue was a gospel issue for me,” Greear shared.

One thing that many notice about the SBC president is…

A male teacher came out as non-binary transgender in a pre-recorded video for elementary students last month and asked them to start calling him by the suffix “Mx.,” according to a national legal group.

The teacher at Allis Elementary School in Madison, Wis., was previously known as Mark “Vince” Busenbark but in the video to students announces he is neither a boy or a girl but “everything in between.” Busenbark asks the students to use pronouns such as “them” and their” instead of “him” or “her.”

The video was shown to students in kindergarten through fifth grade May 16, according to Liberty Counsel, a legal group that specializes in religious freedom.  

“You know me as Mr. Busenbark or Mr. B,” Busenbark says in the seven-minute video. “You’ve known me as the person in the science room, as the person with the plants and the animals, as the person who builds and helps you build. Most of what you know is true. Most of what you know won’t change. But there is one truth that I’ve hidden from you — until about a month ago from my fellow teachers and friends from family. 

“I am transgender,” Busenbark says. “Do you know what that means? Maybe you don’t. Maybe you’ve only heard those words through the filter of those who hate and fear.”

Busenbark references a book, They Call Me Mix, about a girl who grows up to transition to…

A former minister at Houston’s First Baptist Church received his sentence as part of a plea deal in which he admitted to stealing more than $800,000 from the church. A judge sentenced Jerrell Altic to 10 years in prison.

Church leaders noticed financial discrepancies in 2017 and confronted Altic. Altic resigned and eventually admitted to defrauding the church through a series of hard to detect transactions over the course of six years. Authorities say he used the funds to live above his means, obtain a doctorate from Lancaster Bible College, and take his family on international vacations.

The church issued a statement after Altic’s indictment, explaining to the church’s members what had taken place and outlining how the church would move forward in the future. They described to the church the circumstances and outcome of their initial investigation, saying, “In November 2017, we discovered a limited set of suspicious financial activity related to Jerrell Altic. When we approached him about the matter, he immediately tendered his resignation. We reported our initial findings to law enforcement and our insurance provider, in keeping with our legal and fiduciary responsibilities, and began a thorough investigation conducted by staff leadership, relevant church committees and deacons as well as independent forensic accounting and legal experts.”

The church also told…

Guam Governor Lourdes Leon Guerrero has run into a serious obstacle in her desire to see abortion rights thrive on the island–doctors who refuse to perform the procedure. The U.S. territory, located in Micronesia in the western Pacific, is over 80% Catholic and no doctors have agreed to offer abortions since the island’s last abortion provider retired last year.

Abortion is legal in Guam up to 13 weeks, but doctors can deny the service unless there is a medical emergency. However, no abortions have been reported to Guam’s Office of Vital Statistics since last June. Women who terminate a pregnancy without a doctor’s aid could be charged with a felony.

Guerrero, Guam’s first female governor, advocated for expanding abortion rights during the campaign and continues to push for them in office. She told the Associated Press during a phone interview that, “I truly believe that women should have control over their own bodies,” adding, “I’m very sad and very nervous about what’s happening across the nation.”

Guerrero called Guam’s current abortion law “very restrictive” and is concerned that women who do not want to carry a pregnancy to term will seek out potentially life-threatening alternatives. She said, “I’m concerned about it going underground because then we can’t really control it, we can’t really monitor, we can’t really make sure that the women are doing it…