Southern Baptists’ ERLC President Was Fired, But No, He Wasn’t
Brent Leatherwood, President of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. (ERLC, edited)
While national politics sees one upheaval after another, last week also saw a sudden flurry of controversy in Southern Baptist politics with the announcement of an agency president’s removal, followed by a retraction of the announcement.
Baptist Press reported last Monday that Brent Leatherwood had been removed from his office as president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), the public policy entity of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), which is the nation’s largest and most influential Protestant denomination. The report did not name any reasons for the removal, though it indicated that details were set to be revealed at the ERLC’s September trustee meeting.
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The Day Before
Notably, however, the announcement came one day after the ERLC tweeted a quote from Leatherwood in which he praised President Joe Biden’s presidential campaign exit as “selfless”:
Not only is this a historic decision, it is the right decision for our nation … Despite what some partisans will say, to walk away from power is a selfless act – the kind that has become all too rare in our culture.
Journalist Megan Basham expressed the opinions of many with her response to this quote:
This is one of the most dishonest and cynical political statements I have ever seen. No one believes that Joe Biden dropped out due to selflessness. It’s almost obscene to utter something so discrediting in a moment like this.
Responses to the Firing
After Leatherwood’s supposed removal was announced, many on social media celebrated. Evangelical entrepreneur Rod D. Martin wrote,
A Russell Moore wannabe whose noteworthy achievements include working to suppress the trans shooter’s manifesto, lobbying for gun control laws, and flacking for Biden and Kamala. All on your tithe dollars.
The ERLC’s board clearly did the right thing.
A commenter replied, “You forgot actively working against bills that would outlaw abortion,” to which Martin agreed: “Indeed.”
Popular pastor Tom Ascol added his assent to Leatherwood’s removal with a familiar choice of phrasing:
Not only is this a historic decision, it is the right decision for our convention. Despite what some will say, for the trustees to remove Brent from this position of power is a righteous act—the kind that has become all too rare among trustees in our recent SBC culture.
Not everyone was happy, though. Leatherwood’s predecessor, Russell Moore, who left the SBC in 2021, chimed in:
Shameful and disgraceful. A great Christian man who lived through his children barely surviving a school shooting.
Southern Baptists, how much more of this are you going to let go on?
You cannot pretend not to see what is happening in your name.
A Retraction and a Resignation
The following morning, Southern Baptists woke to a new and surprising development. The ERLC’s Executive Committee issued a statement retracting the previous press release and clarifying that Leatherwood had not, in fact, been removed. “There was not an authorized meeting, vote, or action taken by the Executive Committee.” Furthermore, “Kevin Smith has resigned as Chair of the Executive Committee.” Apparently, Pastor Kevin Smith, who was serving as chairman of the committee, had issued the press release without proper authorization.
For his part, Smith issued a statement claiming, “After multiple conversations with Executive Committee members of the ERLC, I was convinced in my mind that we had a consensus to remove Brent Leatherwood as the president of the ERLC.” He states that he had acted in good faith but made the error of acting without a formal vote
He adds, “At this time, the Executive Committee does not wish to move forward with my course of action. Therefore, I am resigning as the Chairman of the ERLC Board of Trustees and as a Trustee.”
Questions Raised
The fact that Smith believed he had consensus but was later opposed caused some to question what may have changed. Basham reported:
Speaking to sources within ERLC this morning who tell me that, yes, the media blowback from CNN, the New York Times, and other secular left media orchestrated by Russell Moore was indeed what caused [ERLC] to retract its dismissal of [Leatherwood].
She also commented:
Russell Moore has a long history of using his connections in the mainstream media to move the the Southern Baptist Convention (the country’s largest and most influential Protestant denomination) in a progressive direction. He did this while leading the ERLC, and yesterday we saw evidence that he is still doing it now that he has left the SBC.
For support of this claim, Basham points to her new book, which “cover[s] how Moore has used his friends at CNN, the Atlantic, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and other secular left outlets to the church…”
ERLC’s Clean-Up
The ERLC’s board of trustees released another statement intending to clarify the events. The statement alleges that “Smith acted of his own accord” and “the members of the executive board were unaware of the chair’s actions” until the press release had been published. It claims, “To be clear, this retraction was about following the procedures laid out in the bylaws of the ERLC, not about responding to pressure from outside organizations.”
Whatever the truth, one social media user summarized the situation:
National politics: we’re going crazy
SBC politics: hold my root beer
This article is an excerpt from Project 18:15.
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