Baptists address # MeToo

DALLAS — The Southern Baptist Convention, in the midst of a national and denominational reckoning on gender, voted at its annual meeting Tuesday to condemn abuse in strong terms and to affirm women’s roles in the church. But the nation’s largest Protestant denomination also showed signs of ongoing bitter division over the firing of a high- profile Baptist leader during the # MeToo moment.

Over the past two months, this 15 million- member conservative evangelical movement has been rocked by scandal, including the firing of a revered leader who was supposed to deliver a key sermon at this meeting. Instead, the denomination is meeting without the ousted seminary president Paige Patterson — and with a new focus on the treatment of women.