The Southern Baptist Convention ordered it’s 100 denominational bookstores (Lifeway) to pull a magazine off it’s shelves and sell it by request only from under the counter because the cover had a picture of women on it. Five women actually.
Chris Turner, a spokesman for Lifeway Resources, which runs the stores for the Southern Baptist Convention, said, “It is contrary to what we believe.”
Tamera Bennett, Claudette Copeland, Sheryl Brady, Kimberly Ray and Millicent Hunter are ministers, women of the cloth, preachers, pastors.
I guess it’s okay the magazine was started by a female entrepreneur, but it’s not okay for Southern Baptists to see or read about female ministers.
I couldn’t find Tamera Bennett’s educational resume.
Claudette Copeland is Church of God and her bio states: She received her undergraduate education at the University of Connecticut , where she concentrated her studies in the field of Psychology. After receiving her Bachelor of Arts Degree, she went on to earn her Master of Divinity in Pastoral Care and Counseling from the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta , Georgia . She earned the Doctorate of Ministry Degree from United Theological Seminary in Dayton , Ohio , where she also served for several years as a visiting Professor and Mentor for doctoral studies. UTS is accredited by ATS)
Sheryl Brady - couldn’t find her academic resume, she appears to run a TV ministry and independent church with her husband.
Kimberly Ray also has a TV show, and appears to be an independent pentecostal. I couldn’t find an academic resume for her.
Millicent Hunter bio says she heads a mega church. Dr. Hunter served as Dean of the Sanctuary Bible Institute and as adjunct professor at various colleges and universities. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Philadelphia Baptist Association. Well-known for her exciting and challenging teaching techniques, Bishop Hunter taught in the Eastern School of Christian Ministry and the Urban Clergy Leadership Institute of Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary. An experienced educator, she is the founder of The Excell Christian Academy. Dr. Hunter established The Worship Center Bible Training Institute in South Africa and the United States which trains and mentors students in Bible and Ministry. Dr. Hunter has an extensive educational background having earned the degree of Doctor of Education. The Eastern School is accredited by the ATS.
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Might I ask why you felt the liberty at mentioning so much about the two of these women who you found educational background for but relayed absolutely no detail about the other three?
You can easily get at least some data from their websites. For example, you can see more about Sheryl Brady at http://www.theriverinc.com/ and http://www.sherylbradyministries.com/. There you would find out that she is a frequent guest on TBN’s national “Praise The Lord” program and has ministered for Bishop T. D. Jakes at his MEGA-fest conferences. Her church (The River located in Durham, NC) feeds thousands of people annually through the food bank program, and she co-wrote the title cut on Bishop T. D. Jakes’ Grammy, Dove and Stellar-nominated recording “Woman Thou Art Loosed”. Pastor Brady has been in the ministry for over 25 years. She is married to Bishop Joby Brady and has three daughters who are all married and three grandchildren.
Hi Thom:
Thanks!
I was looking for where everyone went to bible school or seminary.
Do you know?
The point I was attempting to make was that the SBC won’t permit women to teach (Dr. Sheri Klouda) let alone preach.
The credentials I found are from accepted accredited schools, not diploma mills.
The SBC allows it’s elected president to claim honorific degrees from diploma mills.
Lifeway head office is free to do what they want, but this is just silly.
I might agree with the SBC take on women pastors, but treating the magazine as the moral equivalent of porn that they have to shield young eyes from is just ….. well, I don’t have a good adjective that does the job without insulting the intelligence of some Lifeway execs.
Even though I go to a Southern Baptist church, Lifeway isn’t one of the selling points for them. Thankfully for you, Bene, they don’t go any further north than Indianapolis.
I’ve been as far west as Nebraska and as far south as Florida.
Never seen a Lifeway store, but then again I wasn’t looking.
Turner is the Lifeway media spokesperson and writes at their blog.
I read there are 140 Lifeway stores in 24 states.
Too bad some witty SBC members can’t run with this…
Considering not shopping at Lifeway anymore. There’s one 5minutes fomr my house and there’s a Cedar Springs 30min. I think i’ll go to Cedar Springs unless they apply the same rule. I just don’t understand this at all.
These are some pretty backwards, ignorant people. That is why organized religion is such a scourge! It is people like the SBC who are as hypocritical as they come.
For shame. The SBC folks following the bibles teachings. Don’t they know we should look to what the world is doing to inform our decisions. What they they say next that homosexuals can’t be preachers either. Yea lets boycot Lifeway. We need to sent the message to the “world” that we are on your side.
I disagree with the position of LifeWay, and I stand by their right to be wrong. LifeWay screens all of their products, especially those that are kept in visible places in the stores like magazines. The criteria for products include a doctrine test, and if a product doesn’t hold up to SBC doctrine, there are a few things that may be done with it. They might not carry it at all (Joel Osteen). They might carry it with a “read with discernment” disclaimer (Rob Bell, “The Shack”), or in this case, they had to quickly react to what were more likely than not customer complaints. The magazine is available to anyone who asks for it (in my experience, customers don’t see the magazines right away and end up asking where they are anyway), and customers who would otherwise be offended (SBC pastors mostly) don’t have to look at it. Personally, I would rather LifeWay go back to calling themselves “Baptist Book Stores” if they are going to be so fundamentalist. But that’s just me.
l luv u millicent. you are great