Retired pastor Rick Warren, author of “The Purpose Driven Life,” is intensifying a media blitz in what he acknowledges may be a lost cause.

As ideological divisions wracked the Southern Baptist Convention this year ahead of a pivotal national meeting, one of the leading candidates for its presidency embraced a role as the man best equipped to build bridges.

The Southern Baptist Convention has tamped down a push from the right at its largest meeting in decades, electing a new president who has worked to bridge racial divides in the church and defeating an effort to make an issue of critical race theory.

Controversies over the handling of sex abuse cases and critical race theory are likely to dominate the Southern Baptists' annual meeting, set to begin Tuesday.

The president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee says it is hiring an outside firm to investigate its actions amid accusations that top leaders mishandled sex abuses cases.

Releases of leaked letters and secret recordings from within the Southern Baptist Convention are intensifying as critics seek to show top leaders were slow to address sexual abuse and worried more about its reputation and donations than about victims.