The Texas House passed a bipartisan bill banning nondisclosure clauses in sexual abuse settlement agreements April 8, championed on the House floor by Rep. Jeff Leach, a Southern Baptist who is among the bill’s five authors. Known as Trey’s Law, the bill outlaws the use of NDAs in settlement agreements regarding sexual abuse, regardless of the age of the abused.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Why empower a small group of unelected, perhaps unrepresentative, people from some religious communities with official privileged access to the governor? Why treat seven people as if they could speak for the millions of religious believers in Texas? Can a Baptist properly reflect Catholic concerns, or an Orthodox Jew reflect Muslim concerns?
Read MoreA bill to stop the use of nondisclosure agreements to prevent sexual abuse victims from telling their stories has advanced in the Texas legislature. On March 19, the Texas House Committee on Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence voted unanimously to report House Bill 748 favorably to the full House of Representatives and recommend passage.
Read MoreLaws in 20 states aimed at shielding minors from online pornography are under fire as the U.S. Supreme Court hears a legal challenge this week. At issue is Texas House Bill 1181, one of a string of 20 such laws passed since Louisiana began the charge in 2022 to require websites containing at least 33 percent pornographic materials to verify that a user is at least 18.
Read MoreFirst Baptist Dallas revealed plans on Sunday to rebuild its 134-year-old historic sanctuary, which was largely destroyed by fire this summer. The church also launched a $95 million giving campaign to help pay for it.
Read MoreOn the eve of a potentially historic presidential election, Natasha Sutherland is tired. The born-and-raised Floridian and senior advisor to the Yes on 4 campaign has been fighting to expand and protect abortion access in her home state for years, but that fight hit a fever pitch after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
Read MoreAnyone who has been paying attention to religion news has heard of the “Nones” — the “religiously unaffiliated” people who have little or no connection to any form of institutional religion. Then there are “Nons,” the term that religion-data expert Ryan Burge has pinned on the other big trend (“The Future of American Christianity is Non-Denominational”) that is reshaping the religion marketplace.
Read MoreThe U.S. Supreme Court failed to intervene during this session in a dispute over whether the 1986 Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act requires doctors in the anti-abortion state of Texas to perform abortions to stabilize patients seeking emergency room care.
Read MoreThe new movie "You Gotta Believe," about a youth baseball team's improbable journey all the way to the Little League World Series, offers a fleeting glimpse of faith. But in real life, religion played a more crucial role.
Read MoreTwo days after a four-alarm fire ripped through the historic sanctuary at First Baptist Dallas, the church gathered for worship services in the nearby Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center on Sunday morning.
Read MoreSouthern Baptist Disaster Relief units have deployed in and around Houston up into Texarkana in response to Hurricane Beryl, which made landfall early Monday morning, July 8. Units with the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention (SBTC), Texans on Mission, Arkansas and Alabama are providing meals, showers and chainsaw work to survivors.
Read MoreSome find the constant pop of the wiffle ball batted about by oversized ping pong paddles annoying. Others see a sport encouraging exercise, multigenerational competition, and camaraderie. Regardless, pickleball is here to stay. It’s called the fastest-growing recreational sport in the U.S., although it has been around since 1965.
Read MoreMulberry Springs Baptist Church, about 15 miles northeast of Longview, doesn’t see a lot of traffic on a typical day. Yet the rural congregation, founded in 1892, is building a new worship space to seat nearly 800 people. Nearly two decades ago, attendance was a little over 100 and the discouraged congregation had moved back to its older, smaller meeting space. These days, the place is packed.
Read MorePastor Bob Bynum has become somewhat of a rancher’s helper, wrestling cattle at times and helping when needed among the 20 or so ranchers who worship at Locust Grove Baptist Church. The Smokehouse Creek Fire, the largest in Texas history, came within a mile of a church member’s ranch, Bynum said, but none of the church’s members have reported any direct losses.
Read MoreA coalition of Jewish groups and other organizations is fighting an effort to replace guidance counselors with chaplains in public schools in Texas. The chaplains are not required to be licensed as mental health practitioners or have any specific credentials and will be paid with tax dollars.
Read MoreThis week’s Weekend Plug-in highlights five takeaways from the shooting at Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church. Plus, as always, catch up on all the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Senate Bill 763, enacted in September 2023, allows school officials to hire unlicensed chaplains, either as staff members or volunteers. Those who can pass background checks will be allowed to perform duties typically provided by counselors, such as mental health support. Local boards have until March 1, 2024, to choose whether to allow chaplain programs in their schools.
Read More(OPINION) There’s no evidence that hanging the Ten Commandments on school walls curbs rowdy youthful hormones. As a tool for improving schoolkids’ behavior, that’s a zero. If you absolutely felt compelled to post something Christian, why wouldn’t you post something straight from the lips of Jesus himself?
Read MoreSteven Spainhouer arrived before most first responders to the scene of the nation’s latest mass shooting. The massacre lasted less than four minutes but left eight dead, including three children, and seven wounded.
Read MoreClashing messages about God and guns came a day after an assailant opened fire at a Dallas-area outlet mall, killing eight people — including three children — and wounding seven.
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