On Tuesday, Sept. 10, trustees of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), which is the public policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), met for the first time since the firing and subsequent retraction of the firing of ERLC president and CEO, Brent Leatherwood.

According to its website, the ERLC sees itself as a group of “missionaries sent by Southern Baptists to a confusing and chaotic public square in order to bring the hope of the gospel.” The ERLC says it pray that its “words and tone are a source of hope and light, not driven by politics, but pointing to the goodness of our Father, the gift of his Son, and the hope of his Kingdom.”

ERLC Removed Brent Leatherwood as President Then Retracted Removal

On July 22, the ERLC announced that Brent Leatherwood had been removed as its president and CEO, only to retract the announcement hours later.

RELATED: ERLC Removes Brent Leatherwood as President

“As members of the ERLC’s Executive Committee, we formally retract the press release which was sent yesterday,” the ERLC said in a statement on July 23. “There was not an authorized meeting, vote, or action taken by the Executive Committee.”

The statement also revealed that Kevin Smith, then the chair of the Executive Committee of the ERLC, had resigned from his position. Trustees reassured Leatherwood that he had their support moving forward.

Smith later told the Baptist Press that he was “convinced…that we had a consensus to remove Brent Leatherwood as the president of the ERLC” after having multiple conversations with ERLC Executive Committee members.

ERLC Trustees Reaffirm Leatherwood’s Leadership at Meeting

During the meeting earlier this week, interim ERLC trustee chair Tony Beam, alongside the rest of the ERLC trustees, released a statement titled “ERLC Trustee Statement of Affirmation and Encouragement.”

RELATED: Brent Leatherwood To Remain ERLC President; Trustee Chairperson Resigns

In the statement, the ERLC trustees said, “We affirm and support that the ERLC president and staff continue the excellent work in which they are engaged, in bringing light and hope to the public square and their work in keeping the churches informed about the pressing moral issues of our day.”

Leatherwood expressed his gratitude to trustees during the meeting. “I consider it such a privilege to serve as president of this organization. I know our team feels the same way about the service we render to our churches,” Leatherwood said. “We are grateful for the clear affirmation of our work by the trustees. Their encouragement renews our resolve to continue advocating for Southern Baptists in the public square.”

At only 26, NFL player Tua Tagovailoa is again at the center of a conversation about retirement. The Miami Dolphins quarterback, who has a history of head trauma, suffered another concussion Thursday night (Sept. 12) in a 31-10 home loss to the Buffalo Bills.

In a scary moment during the third quarter, Tagovailoa was scrambling for a first down when he lowered his body into Bills safety Damar Hamlin. After the hit, the QB fell and went into a fencing response, with arms clenched and fingers curled. Dolphins offensive lineman Austin Jackson said he could tell by Tagovailoa’s eyes that the QB “wasn’t there all the way.”

Players from both teams knelt on the field while medical staff attended Tagovailoa. He was able to walk away on his own and didn’t return to the game.

Because of Tagovailoa’s injury history, some commentators and former players are encouraging him to prioritize his health, even if that means retiring early. The QB, an outspoken Christian, is married and has two young children. In July, Tagovailoa signed a four-year, $216 million contract extension with the Dolphins. About $167 million of that is guaranteed.

QB Tua Tagovailoa Receives ‘Love and Prayers’

After Tagovailoa left Thursday night’s game, social media was filled with well wishes, plus pleas for the athlete to prioritize his health. Hamlin, the player he ran into, posted “My love and prayers…Sending you strength and healing for a speedy recovery.”

Worship leader Sean Feucht shared a photo of himself with Tagovailoa. “Praying for my friend @Tua right now,” Feucht wrote. “He’s a true worshipper of Jesus. May God bring peace, healing and wisdom over his mind and body right now.”

Several former NFL players said Tagovailoa should walk away from football because his “entire life” is ahead of him. That’s difficult and unfortunate, they acknowledged, but safety comes first. Retired kicker Lawrence Tynes posted, “That’s just way too many head injuries for a young man with his whole life in front of him.”

Tagovailoa suffered a concussion in 2019, during his final season at Alabama. In 2022, during his third NFL season, the QB had two concussions plus another blow to the head. After one of those injuries, he stumbled back to the huddle but sat out only briefly before returning to the game. That led to a league investigation and changes to the NFL’s concussion protocol.

The QB admitted he pondered retirement back then, but last month he said his mom was the main proponent for that. Tagovailoa adjusted his training regimen and stayed healthy all last season. For 2024, he lost weight to be more mobile.

Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel said the timeline for Tagovailoa’s return is “the furthest thing from my mind.” Instead, he said he wants to support his QB and ensure he receives appropriate care. The Dolphins don’t play again until Sept. 22.

Tagovailoa, who grew up in a nondenominational church, has said he’s grateful to have a public platform to profess his Christian faith. The QB has glorified God and shared Scripture verses during interviews. A Hawaii native, Tagovailoa raised funds for Maui after last year’s devastating wildfires.

Benjamin Watson: Athletes Must ‘Count the Cost’

Benjamin Watson, who played in the NFL for 15 years, also said he’s “thinking about Tua” and the quandary he faces. “Though I’m grateful for each season I played, I sometimes wish I would have walked away earlier,” Watson posted. “Perhaps it would have alleviated some of my current concern about my future health.”

When it comes to health, “The dogged determination that got [athletes] to the pinnacle can simultaneously be our worst enemy in decisions where [objectivity] is a necessity,” Watson added. “Every athlete has to count the cost; known and speculative. I pray Tua seeks the Lord in the coming days. May wisdom prevail.”

In his new single posted on social media this week, acclaimed rapper Kendrick Lamar name-dropped Christian hip hop artists Lecrae and Dee-1. Both responded with appreciation, even as Dee-1 has been addressing criticism over his view that Lil Wayne should not headline the 2025 Super Bowl Halftime Show because of the messages in his lyrics.

“​​Elevation + Condemnation,” said Dee-1 in a Sept. 12 Instagram post. “i love you New Orleans ⚜️But i love God more. 🙏🏽Take that how you want & feel how you gon feel.”

 

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Kendrick Lamar Wonders ‘What Lecrae Would Do’

Kendrick Lamar, who previously performed under the name “K.Dot,” is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time. He received the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music, and his other achievements include 17 Grammy wins and 50 Grammy nominations. Lamar frequently mentions God in his lyrics, which also contain a great deal of profanity.

In an Instagram reel Sept. 11, Lamar posted a new track that some are calling “Watch the Party Die.” In the chorus, Lamar asks God for life, peace, forgiveness and blessing. Later, Lamar raps, “Sometimes I wonder what Lecrae would do? F*** these n***** up or show ’em just what prayer do? I wanna be empathetic, my heart like Dee-1.”

Lecrae, a Grammy, BET and Dove Award-winning Christian hip hop artist, responded to the mention on X, saying, “Love you Dot….Always here,” and included a prayer emoji. 

RELATED: ‘I’ll Do Better’—Kirk Franklin Tells Lecrae He’s Willing To Be Challenged About His Actions

Dee-1 is an Emmy-nominated and NAACP Power of Influence Award-winning Christian hip hop artist from New Orleans. He posted a picture of himself with Lamar on Instagram and said, “I appreciate the shoutout brother. More than you’ll ever know ❤️. @kendricklamar A shift is happening. i been telling everybody! The time is now. 🙏🏽.”

In his Sept. 12 Instagram post, Dee-1 addressed the “elevation” he has experienced as a result of Lamar’s name-drop and the simultaneous “condemnation” he has received because of his position on Lil Wayne and the Super Bowl Halftime Show.

Kendrick Lamar was confirmed last week as the headliner of the 2025 Super Bowl Halftime Show, which will take place in New Orleans (Lamar previously appeared in Dr. Dre’s 2022 all-star Super Bowl Halftime Show). The decision angered some hip hop artists, who believe that Lil Wayne should have been chosen. Lil Wayne is a New Orleans native and a Grammy Award-winning artist also considered to be the one of the best and most influential rappers of all time.

Speaking to TMZ, Dee-1 explained why he does not believe Lil Wayne is a good choice for the halftime show platform. The artist pointed out that he and others in New Orleans have been listening to Lil Wayne “for the duration of our lifetime” and that Lil Wayne has personally influenced him. 

A Southern California pastor has been arrested and charged with multiple counts related to alleged child sexual abuse of at least two female victims. Jose Alcides Vasquez, 47, was arrested at his home in Menifee, California, on Sept. 5. 

Editor’s note: This article refers to reports of child sex abuse, which some readers might find triggering and/or disturbing.

Vasquez faces eight charges, including one count of lewd and lascivious behavior with a victim younger than 14, one count of aggravated sexual assault of a minor younger than 14, two counts of sodomy of a victim younger than 10, one count of oral copulation with a victim younger than 16, and two counts of oral copulation with a victim younger than 10. 

The charges are the result of an investigation conducted by police in Ontario, California, roughly 50 miles north of Menifee, where Vasquez formerly lived. 

RELATED: Tennessee Pastor, Father of 11 Dies by Suicide After Being Charged With Sexual Battery of a Minor

According to police, Vasquez has served as a pastor or volunteer at several churches in the region known as the Inland Empire, most recently as head pastor of the Menifee location of Iglesia De Cristo Camino De Santidad. 

Iglesia De Cristo Camino De Santidad is a multisite church largely focused on Spanish language ministry. The church has locations throughout California, as well as congregations in Oregon and Texas.

According to its website, Iglesia De Cristo Camino De Santidad is “an international ministry established in South Los Angeles neighboring with Huntington Park,” whose “mission is to preach the gospel to as many places may our Lord Jesus Christ send us to.”

The Ontario Police Department began its investigation in 2021 when a high school administrator reported that a student alleged that Vasquez, then the student’s neighbor, had sexually assaulted her. 

The case had remained open since the initial allegations were brought forward, as police sought more evidence before charges were filed. 

RELATED: NC Pastor Arrested in Las Vegas While Trying To ‘Rescue’ His Daughter

Another victim came forward in July of this year, leading police to uncover more evidence of Vasquez’s alleged sexual assaults. 

NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) — Despite the Sudanese civil war that’s devastated the region, the All Saints Anglican Cathedral in Khartoum is still standing. But its compound is now a graveyard, with a vandalized altar and missing pews, which have been chopped by soldiers for firewood, according to Archbishop Ezekiel Kondo.

At the start of the war in April 2023, the cathedral was the seat of Kondo, the 67-year-old primate of the Episcopal (Anglican) Church of Sudan. On April 15, 2023, fighters from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces quickly seized the compound, flipping it into an operation base while Kondo and his family remained inside.

“It happened very abruptly. Nobody expected it,” Kondo recalled, speaking to RNS from Port Sudan, a city on the Red Sea where he has sought refuge since June of last year. “It was Saturday when we were in the office preparing for the Sunday service, after the first week of Easter Sunday. We heard a very heavy sound of gunfire, only to get out and find heavy smoke billowing nearby.”

The war for control over northeast Africa is being fought between two rival factions of the military government of Sudan: the Sudanese Armed Forces, under Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and its allies, under the Janjaweed leader Hemedti. The factions turned on each other after jointly wresting control of the civilian government.

Restrictions on media and aid access have made precise statistics on the scale of devastation hard to obtain. The United Nations estimates that 750,000 people are at threat of starvation, while U.S. envoy Tom Perriello has estimated that the war has killed as many as 150,000 people. Other estimates are much lower, at about 15,000 confirmed deaths. The war has also displaced more than 10 million people, making it the largest global displacement crisis, and left an additional 25 million in urgent need of humanitarian aid, over half of the country’s population.

For some, this is the second civil war they’ve fled in recent years. In South Sudan, nearly 400,000 people were killed in clashes from 2013 to 2018.

The cathedral is close to the army headquarters and the airport, where the full-scale war broke out during Ramadan last year. With the armed confrontation intensifying, the Rapid Support Forces had rushed its soldiers to surround the church compound, hoping the place of worship would not be bombed and would guarantee them some protection.

“They were there at the gate and we were unable to do anything. We were unable to get out,” Kondo said. “All the families that were there gathered in the church hall. Other people also ran and joined us. We spent three nights there.”

After three days in the cathedral’s basement without water or food, Kondo and other leaders decided to leave. After interrogations at gunpoint, the soldiers finally allowed them to go. The church leaders and their families then walked for an hour and a half to find transport to take them to the south of Khartoum with less violence. Kondo’s family remained there for two months, only to move again after the bombardment became more intense and closer.

“One of the shells fell near where we were,” Kondo said. He then decided to move with his family to Port Sudan. “It was very difficult, but we thank God. He has been our protector.”

In Port Sudan, Kondo continues to call for peace as he ministers in the diocese there, while staying in touch with Anglicans still in Khartoum.

One day after being charged with aggravated sexual battery, a longtime Tennessee pastor died by suicide in a hospital bathroom, authorities said. David Mark Baker Sr., 57, was serving at Family Baptist Church in Columbia, had been a jail chaplain, and once ran for Maury County mayor.

On Sept. 10, Baker was charged with aggravated sexual battery in a case that involved a minor, according to Sheriff Bucky Rowland. Baker, released from jail on $200,000 bond, was scheduled to appear in court next month.

Columbia Police Chief Jeremy Alsup said Baker walked into a local emergency room on Sept. 11, “went straight to the bathroom and was soon found deceased in the bathroom.” Video footage shows Baker walking into the ER at Maury Regional Medical Center.

David Mark Baker Dies By Suicide

Baker also had a life-coaching business, wrote books and curriculum, started Independent Baptist Online College, and co-led a ministry called Fallen in Grace. News reports indicate he and his wife were parents of 11 children.

Baker, who was born in Columbia and raised in Santa Fe, Tennessee, had planned to become a lawyer. But after receiving a DUI and spending a night in jail more than three decades ago, he decided to become a pastor.

RELATED: NC Pastor Arrested in Las Vegas While Trying To ‘Rescue’ His Daughter

As part of his 28-year prison ministry, Baker assisted inmates who were trying to re-enter society. The pastor “developed a heart” to help restore people, he said. “It’s amazing how God can take one bad thing you’ve been through and use it for good.”

Baker co-founded Fallen in Grace with David Hyles, an Indiana pastor who was accused of raping a minor while serving as a youth pastor. Hyles was never charged. “If a preacher or Christian falls, we should pick them up,” Baker said of their restoration ministry. “So many times, people kick them when they are down.”

Previous Controversy Involving David Mark Baker

When David Mark Baker Sr. ran for mayor of Maury County in 2022, controversy arose about his handling of sexual assault allegations at his former congregation.

Aimee Spires said while she was attending Lighthouse Church as a young teen, member James Earl Lovett sexually assaulted her. But she said Baker, then pastor of Lighthouse, told her not to make a police report because it would “destroy” Lovett’s family.

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — In an unmistakable contrast to the emptying churches that surround him in Europe, Pope Francis encountered fields and churches filled with scores of Catholics as he arrived Monday (Sept. 9) in the Pacific nation of East Timor, giving him a firsthand impression of Asia’s growing Catholic community.

Francis landed in Dili, the capital, for a 48-hour stop on his two-week tour through Asia. More than 95% of East Timor’s 1.4 million people are Catholic. Pope John Paul II visited the region in 1989, and he is credited with inspiring its people to gain independence from Indonesia, in 2002.

Francis was met by cheering crowds of young people that greeted him at political and religious events alike. Roughly 70% of the population of East Timor is under the age of 30, according to local government data.

RELATED: From Witchcraft to Synodality, Pope Francis Tackled Women’s Roles in Papua New Guinea

The papal trip culminated with an open-air Mass on Tuesday attended by 600,000 Timorese, according to Vatican estimates, many of them sheltering from the scorching heat at the vast Tasitolu field under umbrellas.

“How wonderful that here in East Timor there are so many children. Indeed, you are a young country and we can see every corner of your land teeming with life,” the pope said in his homily. “What a great gift it is that so many children and young people are present, constantly renewing the freshness, energy, joy and enthusiasm of your people.”

Francis’ visit started on Monday with local political and diplomacy representatives. At the Presidential Palace Hall, Francis also contrasted Timor’s relative youth with the aging population of Western nations.

“I think of two countries in Europe where the average age is 46 and 48. Yet among you, 65% are under 30 years old, so we can think that the average age will be around 30, or a little less. This is a richness,” he said.

The pope encouraged the local government to invest in education, and he laid out his idea of how young generations and the elderly should dialogue to build a better society — a recurring theme of Francis’ pontificate that rarely makes headlines.

“I would like to give a piece of advice: Bring children and grandparents together. The encounter between children and grandparents brings about wisdom. Please reflect on that. Together, youthful enthusiasm and wisdom are a great resource that do not allow for passivity, still less for pessimism,” he said.

During his brief visit, the pope often warned against the threats facing modern society and globalization, which he claimed fuel a secular model through cellphones and social media. But the church’s influence in the country has been lessened by recent scandals, which saw a high-profile cleric, Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo, accused of sexually abusing young boys.

“Let us not forget the many children and adolescents whose dignity has been violated,” Francis told local authorities, only indirectly addressing the scandal, and urging the church and society to do “everything possible to prevent every kind of abuse and guarantee a healthy and peaceful childhood for all young people.”

On Tuesday, as the pope spoke to the large crowd of mostly young people and families, he warned young children against “crocodiles” who offer empty promises and rob them of their history.

Pope Francis attends the meeting with young people in Centro de Convencoes in Dili, East Timor, Sept. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

“Be careful! Because I’ve heard that crocodiles may come to some beaches; the crocodiles can swim, and their bite is stronger than we can manage. Be careful! Watch yourselves from those crocodiles who want to change your culture, who want to change your history. Remain faithful!” Francis said in an off-the-cuff remark at the end of his homily.