BALTIMORE (MD)
Religion News Service
Adelle M. Banks | Jun 11, 2014
BALTIMORE (RNS) Southern Baptists prayed Wednesday (June 11) that the Supreme Court would rule in favor of the Green family, the evangelical owners of the Hobby Lobby craft chain that challenged the contraception mandate in the Affordable Care Act.
During its annual conference in Baltimore, Southern Baptists prayed that the U.S. Supreme Court would rule in favor of Hobby Lobby’s owners, members of the Green Family, who challenged the Affordable Care Act’s contraception mandate. Creative Commons photo by Nicholas Eckhart
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During its annual conference in Baltimore, Southern Baptists prayed that the U.S. Supreme Court would rule in favor of Hobby Lobby’s owners, members of the Green Family, who challenged the Affordable Care Act’s contraception mandate. Creative Commons photo by Nicholas Eckhart
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“God, we ask for a favorable, favorable ruling by the Supreme Court of the United States for the cause of religious liberty,” prayed the Rev. Ronnie Floyd, incoming president of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Historians said the prayer from the podium during the SBC’s annual meeting about a pending court decision was noteworthy, though Southern Baptists have preached and issued statements for years on current events.
“I think it’s unusual for it to happen at a convention event,” said Bill Sumners, director of the Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives. …
As the Southern Baptist meeting concluded Wednesday, representatives of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests passed out fliers outside urging the denomination to take stronger steps to safeguard children from abuse and prevent cover-ups of clergy sexual offenders.
Roger “Sing” Oldham, spokesman for the SBC’s Executive Committee, said Southern Baptists are regularly reminded that they are responsible for reporting child abuse accusations to local authorities.
“The Southern Baptist Convention remains clear and unambiguous in its condemnation of sex abuse of any kind and views molestation of innocent children as particularly heinous,” he said.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.