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(AP) — The SBC has faced a reckoning over its handling of sexual abuse since a 2019 report by the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express News, documenting hundreds of abuse cases in Southern Baptist churches.
The status of a federal investigation into a leading Southern Baptist agency's handling of sexual abuse is unclear.
The Southern Baptist Convention expelled a rural Oklahoma church from its membership Tuesday after resurfaced pictures and video show its pastor impersonating late singer Ray Charles in blackface at a talent show, according to a convention spokesperson.
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The nationwide Southern Baptist Convention has ousted a Baltimore congregation, St. Timothy's Christian Baptist Church, and three other churches from its ranks due to the fact they have female pastors, placing them out of alignment with the SBC's statement of faith.
SBC leaders did not address, in an Aug. 12th statement, whether the DOJ investigation into the SBC presents a religious liberty threat, though some observers have expressed this concern. While churches are not immune from criminal investigations, constitutional safeguards prevent arbitrary intrusion into the internal affairs of churches and ministries.