Religion News Briefs

Floyd to preach his final sermon

The Rev. Ronnie Floyd will give his final sermon as senior pastor of Cross Church in Northwest Arkansas at 9:30 a.m. Sunday at the University of Arkansas' Bud Walton Arena, 1270 Leroy Pond Road in Fayetteville.

Floyd, who has pastored at the church for more than 32 years, was elected president and chief executive officer of the Southern Baptist Convention's Executive Committee in April.

His son, the Rev. Nick Floyd, was "overwhelmingly affirmed" by the congregation's 11 services to be the church's next senior pastor, said the elder Floyd on his blog. Nick Floyd has been leading as a pastor at the church's Fayetteville campus, and has served in additional preaching roles at the church's other campuses. Ronnie Floyd will hand over leadership of the church to Nick on Sunday during a program called "Cross Church Together: The Miracle Continues to the Future."

Ronnie Floyd will begin work in his new role with the convention in Nashville, Tenn., on Monday.

-- Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Windows removed of ex-seminary head

FORT WORTH -- Stained-glass windows honoring some religious leaders who helped shift the Southern Baptist Convention to a more conservative stance have been removed from a Texas chapel.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported Wednesday that the windows featured leaders including dismissed Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary President Paige Patterson. He was fired last May amid criticism of his responses to rape allegations made years apart by two students.

The MacGorman Chapel windows were unveiled several years ago and funded by contributions.

Seminary board officials criticized Patterson for his email to campus security in 2015 saying he wanted to meet alone with a student who said she'd been raped, to "break her down."

Patterson also was criticized for contradictory responses about his review of a student's rape allegation in 2003 at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in North Carolina.

-- The Associated Press

Religion on 05/18/2019

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