Change Of Leadership At ERLC

I have a few observations about the resignation of Brent Leatherwood who previously led the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC). This is the entity that is supposed to lobby governmental entities and assert Southern Baptists’ Christian perspective in the public square.

One incident tells you all we need to know about Leatherwood. When Roe v. Wade was overturned, he argued against making abortion illegal. This is because he and his predecessor– Russell Moore– kowtowed to elites and espoused a moderate/liberal political worldview on important topics.

In any event, here are some important points to consider:

1. While there was not a majority voting in favor of eliminating the ERLC at the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting during June, the vote was close. That was a clear indication to the entity’s board they had lost the support of a very significant portion of the grassroots within the Convention.
2. The ERLC’s Board of Trustees was holding its two-day meeting this past week. Leatherwood’s resignation was likely forced in connection with discussions at that meeting.
3. An “acting” president was chosen from the ERLC staff. However, a permanent leader will need to be named.

It will be very important for the ERLC Board to recruit and hire someone who espouses biblically valid, orthodox convictions and the interests of grassroots Southern Baptists. They need to stop kowtowing to the media/left complex. They need to stop behaving like Stockholm Syndrome Christians.

They need to hire someone who has demonstrable skills in the field of lobbying; and who is determined to fulfill this function well. They need to be very careful they are not hiring someone who is there to infiltrate and push the organization further leftward. That is what we had with Moore and Leatherwood.

If this entity is going to continue to exist, it needs to be a bold witness in the public square for truly biblical values. It needs to support the abolition of abortion. And it needs to stop taking stands that have no valid biblical basis on matters like immigration . For this entity to have collaborated with George Soros’ immigration organization is a blatant indicator how badly things have been amiss.

Several names have been floated as possible candidates for the presidency of the ERLC. I hope the board does not hire another mountebank. This is an incredibly important decision that needs to be made with utmost gravity and seriousness. They need not blow it again.

Addendum: Check out one example of those who currently sit on the ERLC board.