Two summers ago, an insurgent group of ultraconservative Southern Baptists branded themselves as pirates, vowing to “take the ship” of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination and steer it farther to the right on issues like sexuality and race.
They were determined to halt what they saw as rising liberalism and drift from biblical truth.
Many were outraged that one of their most prominent churches had ordained three women.
Now, the ultraconservatives are seizing power, and the ship is beginning to turn.
But it also stems from growing anxieties many evangelicals have about what they see as swiftly changing norms around gender and sexuality in America.
Organizations:
Southern Baptists
Locations:
New Orleans, America