The 901: SBC delegates approve series of sexual abuse reforms, elect president
Good Wednesday morning, Memphis, where we're baking in what would be typical mid August weather with a sustained heat wave this week. And there's no relief (or much rain) in the forecast over the next 10 days.
But, first, we're focusing on the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting in Anaheim, California, where attendees yesterday approved a series of sexual abuse reforms, including a way to track accused ministers, and elected a new president in one of the denomination's most consequential annual meetings in decades.
On the first official day of its annual meeting this week, voting delegates, known as messengers, picked Texas pastor Bart Barber to lead the SBC and faced head on the issue of how to prevent sexual abuse, our Katherine Burgess and Liam Adams report from Anaheim.
Barber defeated Florida pastor Tom Ascol in a narrow runoff election Tuesday evening. Barber received 60.87% of the vote.
"We need a man who can lead us through the battleground of our disagreements to the common ground of our cooperation," Matt Henslee, a Southern Baptist pastor from Texas, said of Barber in a nomination speech.
Juneteenth: Celebrating a complicated holiday
Kevin Douglass Greene will pull on the dark blue topcoat and light blue slacks of an infantry soldier.
His blue cap will be emblazoned with the No. 13 and a curved horn, the logo of the 13th Regiment of the U.S. Colored Troops, free and formerly enslaved men who proved they were willing to fight and die for a nation debating their freedom, Keith Sharon at our sister paper in Nashville reports in this story for subscribers.
Greene, 61, the great-great-grandson of abolitionist and orator Frederick Douglass, will wear the uniform proudly on Juneteenth, a federal holiday that he would prefer to celebrate with a day of education as opposed to attending a cookout, music festival or other spirited get-togethers.
Congolese dance artist comes to Memphis to inspire
It was hard to watch the students learning to dance in the small Binghamton church without smiling. The room was dark, and the lack of strong central air conditioning made it a little hot. But the students didn't mind. They were laughing and cheering the entire time, throwing their entire bodies into the cheerful movements, our Gina Butkovich writes in this story for subscribers.
"We need to be happy and exchange with everybody," Chrysogone Diangouaya, their teacher, said through a translator. "That's why I came here to help them discover the desire to be here and joy... it's just happiness."
Diangouaya is an internationally celebrated Congolese artist and the founder of the Chrysogone Diangouaya Dance Center, located in Paris, France. In partnership with New Ballet Ensemble & School and the Refugee Empowerment Program, or REP, he traveled to Memphis to spend nine days teaching and supporting "the establishment of a strong cultural identity for the local, growing Congolese community" in Memphis. His work will be highlighted in two performances this Thursday and Friday. The Thursday performance is closed to the public but the Friday performance at the Halloran Centre will be open to anyone who wants to attend.
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Who's got the second-best BBQ in the nation?
We all know Memphis is the capital of great barbecue. And with grill-centric Fourth of July coming up, here's a story from our Southern Kitchen colleague Mackensy Lunsford on what makes barbecue such a special cuisine that is beloved by many in the South.
Tigers football adds 4 commitments
After hosting several recruits over the weekend on official visits as well as football camps, Memphis gained four commitments within a 24-hour span for the Class of 2023, including three-star quarterback Carson Black, our Evan Barnes reports.
Black was the first of the four to commit when he announced his decision Saturday. On Sunday, the Tigers also received commitments from safety Johnsley Barbas, offensive linemen Landon Zaldivar and lineman Parker Peterson.
Memphis had just one commitment before Saturday in three-star cornerback Trevor Walton from Horn Lake. Of the new commitments, only Black is ranked by 247Sports.
Mark Russell is executive editor of The Commercial Appeal. You can reach him at mark.russell@commercialappeal.com or 901/288-4509. You can also follow him on Twitter: @MarkRussell44
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Southern Baptist Convention sexual abuse reforms new president elected
