ERLC pulls president one day after kind word on Biden – Baptist News Global

Editor’s Note: This article replaces and updates a previous article posted just two hours earlier.

One day after Brent Leatherwood offered a kind comment about President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential race, he was fired as head of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.

No reason was given for Leatherwood’s sudden termination, but it came late Monday, July 22, a day after the Baptist Press quoted Leatherwood as saying of Biden’s decision: “Not only is it a decision historic, but it is the right decision for our nation. … Despite what some partisans will say, stepping down is an altruistic act — the kind that has become too rare in our culture.”

Brent Leatherwood

That comment sparked a firestorm of criticism of Leatherwood and the ELRC online, mainly from the far-right Calvinist wing of the SBC, which has been advocating for the agency to be defunded or abolished for several years. The same group of pro-Trump Southern Baptists criticized Leatherwood’s predecessor, Russell Moore, so harshly that he resigned. Moore is now editor-in-chief of Christianity today.

Although Leatherwood and ERLC have a solid track record of taking conservative positions on social issues such as abortion and LGBTQ rights, their failure to embrace the fullness of Trumpism and deny the reality of sexual abuse in the SBC have remained constant points of criticism.

A motion to abolish the agency failed to gain traction at this summer’s annual meeting. Some ultra-conservative churches have already stopped giving to the SBC Cooperative Program in protest of the ERLC.

News of Leatherwood’s ouster came after-hours Monday via an announcement on the organization’s website and BP’s three-paragraph story. The convocation was attributed to the trustee’s executive committee, which has four members.

Sources close to the situation told BNG that two of the four members of the executive committee were unaware of the firing, which was allegedly prompted by board chairman Kevin Smith.

Smith is pastor of Family Church Village in West Palm Beach, Florida. He previously served as executive director of the Maryland and Delaware Baptist Convention, where he succeeded Will McRaney, who was fired at the request of North American Mission Board President Kevin Ezell, leading to a seven-year dispute.

Kevin Smith

Smith previously served as a professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. and was a teaching pastor at Highview Baptist Church there, where Ezell was pastor.

Smith left his role at Maryland and the Delaware convention suddenly in 2021 to return to a pastorate in Florida. He has served on the ERLC board since 2018 and was elected board chair last year.

The executive committee’s action happened without any notification to the full board. Other board members reportedly learned of the firing when news broke on BP.

The official statement read: “The executive committee of the board of directors for the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention issued the following statement: In accordance with our bylaws, the executive committee has removed Brent Leatherwood as chairman. More details, as well as plans for the transition, will be provided at our September board meeting. Until then, the Executive Committee of the board of directors will assume directional responsibility for carrying out ministry duties for the ERLC.”

Full board is not scheduled let’s meet by September 10-11, which is seven weeks away.

According to sources close to the situation, Leatherwood’s statement about Biden precipitated his firing.

The SBC, while part of the white evangelical group that makes up Trump’s political base, includes both pro-Trumpers and never-Trumpers. In June, Trump was invited to speak at a side event during the SBC’s annual meeting in June, which drew sharp criticism from some Southern Baptist pastors.

Leatherwood, like his predecessor, tried to walk a finer line of being staunchly anti-abortion without coming across as pro-Trump. Moore’s “never Trump” stance forced him out of the ERLC leadership.

Calling Biden’s decision a “selfless act” didn’t sit well with that far-right crowd, exemplified by Georgia pastor Mike Stone, a former SBC presidential candidate and former SBC Executive Committee president.

Calling Biden’s decision a “selfless act” didn’t sit well with that far-right crowd,

Stone tweeted a link to the BP story and said, “Despite what some partisans will say, nothing in the record indicates that Mr. Biden ‘stepped down’ as a ‘selfless act.’ Nothing.”

At which Southern Baptist pastor Wade Lentz replied, “Even Ray Charles could see it!”

Which prompted this public response from Stone: “Ray Charles, Ronnie Milsap and Stevie Wonder could have written a song about that.”

A posting of the BP story by the ERLC on X — and Stone’s post on X — both drew dozens of angry responses belittling Biden, cursing Leatherwood and lashing out at the ERLC.

Southern Baptist commentator Megan Basham quickly joined the fray: “This is one of the most dishonest and cynical political statements I have ever seen. No one believes Joe Biden quit out of selflessness. It’s almost obscene to say something so discrediting at a time like this.”

Other responses included:

jojomarks81: “Oh dear god, you people make me ashamed to be associated with the SBC!! This was not an altruistic act. This man has been unfit for years. The only reason he “gives up” is because he is forced to do so. Why? Because his poll numbers show he can’t beat Trump. Please spare me your blatant moralistic platitudes.”

Pastor Rich Lusk: “Nowhere in the Bible does he depart from power considered godly in itself. But if he is godly, why doesn’t the director of the ERLC show true selflessness by stepping down?”

Kangmin Lee: “Why doesn’t Brent Leatherwood also resign if leaving power is an altruistic act? Stop being selfish!”

Bobby: He quoted Gerard Baker as saying, “The claim that Joe Biden willingly surrendered the presidency in an act of historic self-denial is almost as big a lie as the claim over the last six months that he was fit to serve four years”.

Kurt Mahlburg: “What a crazy tweet. It was a coup by the most corrupt political party in the history of the United States.”

MamaCan: “Just when we thought the ERLC couldn’t embarrass the SBC any more, they outdo themselves.”

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