NASHVILLE (BP)—Messengers to the upcoming SBC annual meeting in Nashville will vote on proposed changes to the mission and ministry statements of Lifeway that, in turn, will affect the North American Mission Board.

At the February SBC Executive Committee meeting, the committee on convention missions and ministry presented a motion to amend the missions and ministry assignment of Lifeway Christian Resources. Within those revisions, approved by Lifeway trustees in January, the entity would move away from collegiate ministry responsibilities to focus more on Vacation Bible School and camps as well as Bible and book publishing.

Executive Committee members responded by voting to forward the recommended changes for approval by messengers to the SBC annual meeting in Nashville on June 15-16.

NAMB trustees voted unanimously on a resolution formally requesting ownership of the collegiate ministry assignment as Southern Baptists’ domestic missions agency. Those involved say the development would not have been possible without significant collaboration among SBC Executive Committee staff, NAMB leadership and leadership from the Baptist collegiate state directors. The changes were approved by the Executive Committee May 11 and now await final consideration by messengers at the annual meeting.

In January, Lifeway President Ben Mandrell explained reasons for the change.

“The majority of Lifeway’s ministry assignments were assigned to us in 1995,” he said. “Since then, the digital revolution, changing church practices and, most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic have all contributed to significant shifts in Lifeway’s business model and how we minister to our church customers. The internet has touched almost every facet of our daily lives—from how we consume media, how we connect socially, how we shop, how we work, even how we connect with our local church.

“The current generation of church leaders are feeling the tremendous effects of these changes. And the current pandemic has only compounded the pressures church leaders are feeling. These sea changes have reinforced the need to update our ministry assignments as Lifeway adapts to meet the needs of churches today and tomorrow.”

The changes will also shore up Lifeway’s efforts to provide churches with statistical and research information. According to a recent Lifeway Research study, for example, 66 percent of American young adults who attended a Protestant church as a teenager dropped church attendance altogether between the ages of 18-22. The main reason given was moving to go to college.

The proposed addition to NAMB’s ministry assignments approved by NAMB trustees reads: “Assisting churches in reaching and mobilizing college and university students in the United States and Canada. Promote the advancement of college and university ministry efforts in evangelism, discipleship, churchmanship, leadership development, and missions mobilization through collaborative partnerships.”

Shane Pruitt, NAMB’s director of Next Gen evangelism, said today’s college campus essentially serves as a preview of America’s tomorrow.

“It is literally where our future is being formed to be sent out as influencers,” he said. “Therefore, if we want to see a spiritual awakening that will impact the culture for many years to come, we must focus on having a gospel influence on the college campuses immediately.”

Pruitt further indicated that, pending messengers’ approval, NAMB’s role on college campuses can help spur a pipeline of future missionaries.

“College campuses, universities and collegiate ministries can be strategic launching pads to send out missionaries all over the world to know Jesus and to make Jesus known,” he said. “Reaching college students with the gospel and mobilizing them with the gospel is a calling and conviction for us. … We are so excited about the potential of locking arms with BCM directors, local church college pastors and collegiate church plants to see a gospel impact on college campuses across the nation.”

NASHVILLE (BP)—Some SBC annual meetings offer little speculation as to the outcomes of the election of officers. The 2021 annual meeting in Nashville will not be one of those.

With just a few weeks left until official nominations are made, multiple nominees have been announced for various SBC-related offices.

So far, there are four announced candidates for SBC president, five for vice president roles, and one each for recording secretary and registration secretary.

Randy Adams

Citing a desire for Southern Baptists’ focus to “be on the mission, with the Bible as our sole and final authority on all matters,” Northwest Baptist Convention Executive Director/Treasurer Randy Adams announced Jan. 20  he would be nominated for SBC president.

Adams, who has served in his current role since 2013, intended to be nominated for president at the 2020 SBC annual meeting, but that meeting was ultimately canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In his candidacy announcement, he stated that his reasons for accepting that nomination have only intensified over the past year.

Adams originally was to be nominated by former Southern Baptist Theological Seminary professor Russell Fuller, but in a recent conversation with Baptist Press, Adams said he would have a different nominator who would be announced the day of the election.

Before joining the Northwest Baptist Convention, Adams served as a pastor at three churches over a 20-year period. He also led the missions and evangelism team for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma for more than eight years.

Ed Litton

Former SBC President Fred Luter announced Jan. 19 his intention to nominate longtime friend and Mobile, Ala.-area pastor Ed Litton for the SBC presidency.

“I have known Ed Litton for over 20 years. Our relationship started when we preached for each other as part of the SBC Racial Reconciliation Sunday during the month of February,” Luter said. “From there our relationship developed to more than just colleagues to bring races together. We both shared the hope of drawing people closer to a relationship with Jesus Christ and then growing disciples for Christ. In both of our churches our focus has been the same all of these years.”

Since 1994, Litton has been pastor of Redemption Church in Saraland, Ala., which was known as North Mobile Baptist Church until 2014. A Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary graduate, Litton has served at First Baptist Church in Euless in the college and career ministry and in the Arizona Southern Baptist Convention Evangelism department. In 1987 he planted Mountain View Baptist Church in Tucson, Ariz.

Al Mohler

Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Al Mohler said in October he had agreed to accept a nomination to serve as SBC president at the 2021 SBC annual meeting.

Mohler will be nominated by H.B. Charles, senior pastor of Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Fla. Charles had previously announced his intention to nominate Mohler for president at the 2020 Annual Meeting.

If elected, Mohler would be the first entity head to serve as SBC president since Paige Patterson, who served from 1999-2000 while president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Mohler has been president of Southern Seminary since 1993.

Mike Stone

Mike Stone, pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Blackshear, Ga., and immediate past chairman of the SBC Executive Committee, announced his candidacy Jan. 13. Stone will be nominated by Dean Haun, senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Morristown, Tenn. Haun is a former president of the Tennessee Baptist Convention.

Stone, a member of the steering council of the recently formed Conservative Baptist Network, served five years on Emmanuel’s staff before becoming pastor in 2002. Stone has regularly appeared as a speaker at revivals and Bible conferences throughout the Southeast. In addition to his role as Executive Committee chair, Stone also served as Georgia Baptist Convention president and chairman of the GBC Executive Committee.

Nominees for other offices announced

Candidates for first vice president of the SBC include Lee Brand, vice president of Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary, and Anthony Dockery, pastor of St. Stephen Baptist Church in La Puente, Calif.

For second vice president, announced candidates are Javier Chavez, church planter and pastor of Iglesia Bautista Amistad Cristiana International in Gainesville, Ga.; Dusty Durbin, pastor of Big Level Baptist Church in Wiggins, Miss.; and Ramón Medina, lead pastor of the Spanish ministry at Champion Forest Baptist Church in Houston.

John Yeats, executive director of the Missouri Baptist Convention, will be renominated for recording secretary. Don Currence, administrative pastor of First Baptist Church in Ozark, Mo.; will be nominated for registration secretary.

Nominations for all offices remain open until the time of election at the SBC annual meeting.

NASHVILLE (RNS)—Russell Moore’s resignation from the presidency of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission has put the Southern Baptists’ propensity for controversy on clear display.

Conservative, pro-life, anti-same-sex marriage, Moore was hardly a theological outlier among his fellow Southern Baptist leaders, yet his opposition to the candidacy of Donald Trump, whom Moore had once called “an arrogant huckster,” as well as his sympathy for immigrants and concern for the SBC’s sexual abuse victims, put him out of step with the SBC’s political culture.

Elected in 2013, Moore was deemed “a source of significant distraction” in a task force report earlier this year to the SBC’s Executive Committee. Critics accused him of being a liberal, and some megachurch pastors began to withhold money from the denomination’s missions program in protest.

Moore is gone, taking a job with Christianity Today, but the departure of a dissenter hasn’t solved a raft of serious problems. At the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting in Nashville next month, the leadership will face conflicts over race, the role of women in the church and the unsettled question of how to deal with sexual abuse.

Perhaps most worrying for leadership is the relentless decline in membership, falling by more than two million over the past 15 years, even as several high-profile leaders, such as beloved Bible teacher Beth Moore and well-known Black pastor Charlie Dates, have exited the denomination.

Conservative Baptist Network rallies critics on the right

Chuck Kelley, former president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and a leader in the Conservative Baptist Network, a new organization within the SBC that has been critical of current leadership, summed up the denomination’s situation this way: “Southern Baptists are in serious trouble.”

Rather than pull back on controversy, the Southern Baptists are characteristically doubling-down.

When Saddleback Church, an enormous California megachurch founded by Pastor Rick Warren, perhaps the best-known Southern Baptist in the country, ordained three women pastors earlier this month, critics leapt to call for an investigation. Women pastors are forbidden by the SBC’s statement of faith, the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message.

Objections to a pronouncement from six Southern Baptist seminary presidents calling critical race theory “incompatible” with the statement of faith have been largely ignored by top officials.

Author and speaker Trillia Newbell, a former staff member at the ERLC who has had a front-row seat for the controversies in recent years, said the infighting raises a perplexing question: How do Southern Baptists tell the outside world about the love of Jesus if they can’t stand one another?

“What is so strange to me is people believe that by fighting, they are being faithful,” said Newbell. “It’s hard to convince someone that they may need to be slow to speak and to tame their tongue if they think they’re right. And if they think they’re fighting for Jesus.”

‘Fraying’ of the ties that bind

Thom Rainer, a longtime Southern Baptist leader, said the challenges facing the SBC are common to many denominations built and held together by shared doctrine, mission, culture and geography. “What is happening in the SBC is that we’re seeing a fraying of all of those ties,” he said.

With fewer resources and a changing culture outside the church, Christians of all stripes are fighting over how to apply their doctrines and how to spend their money, Rainer said. They no longer have a shared church culture. They don’t sing the same songs or study the same books or worship in the same way.

The general turmoil in American culture also has affected Southern Baptists, said historian Nathan Finn, dean of the faculty at North Greenville University in South Carolina. Baptists might agree on theology and church practice and even be very conservative and still be divided about discussions of politics, race and gender, Finn said.

Those fault lines have made it harder for Southern Baptists to cooperate in their system of funding national and international ministry—the Cooperative Program. With no strong central authority, their sharing of resources is completely based on trust.

“Where there is a lack of trust, there is a lack of commitment to cooperative missions and thus, the Cooperative Program,” said Finn.

Southern Baptists also struggle with consensus on the Baptist Faith & Message, first adopted in 1925. Finn summed up their approach this way: “Within the SBC, how do we work the broadest consensus possible, even if that means there might be some people in the consensus who make some of us nervous?”

Other Southern Baptists, he said, “want to clarify the differences.” These Baptists might not want to kick out everyone they disagree with but want to limit who is able to “drive the bus,” as Finn put it.

“The question really is, what are you willing to tolerate for the sake of cooperation?” he said.

Numerical decline

The divides in the SBC are exacerbated by the denomination’s significant decline. The SBC’s membership peaked in 2006 at about 16.3 million members. According to data released May 20, there are now about 14 million Southern Baptists, a decline of 2.3 million.

Baptisms, meanwhile, dropped by half, to 123,160, though much of this falloff is likely due to the COVID-19 pandemic’s shuttering of in-person services for much of 2020. The denomination also grew by 588 churches.

Ryan Burge, an assistant professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University, predicts that by 2025, Baptists will be at about half their former size, “and more politically homogenous than ever.”

Both current SBC leaders and their critics agree that addressing the decline, and a refocus on evangelism, is paramount. Earlier this year, Ronnie Floyd, a former megachurch pastor who now leads the SBC’s Executive Committee, announced plans for “Vision 2025,” an initiative to send out new missionaries, plant more new churches and increase evangelization of young people.

Kelley of the Conservative Baptist Network sees the decline as an organizational failure. The denomination’s North American Mission Board, he said, moved away from personal evangelism in the 1980s to a focus on church planting. That has led to more churches but not more baptisms and Southern Baptists.

Churches also dropped the ball on discipleship, he asserted. From the 1920s to the 1970s, Southern Baptists had a range of programs to help people grow in their faith and learn to live according to Christian teaching. Those programs, he said, have largely run out of steam and disappeared.

“You combine that failure of discipleship with less and less attention to evangelism and a culture that is less and less hospitable to the Christian faith and guess what?” he said. “You have declining churches.”

But Kelley also faults a major upheaval during the 1980s known as the Conservative Resurgence, in which a rearguard of traditionalists who favored male headship of the family and inerrancy prevailed in the “battle for the Bible.”

The conservative movement won a theological battle over liberals in the denomination, said Kelley, who supported the self-identified resurgence, but it didn’t make the SBC “more effective in reaching our nation and our world for Christ.”

Critics on the right fear ‘worldly ideologies’

Now Kelley and others in the Conservative Baptist Network see themselves battling “incipient liberal theology” that has invaded the SBC anew. Discussions of social justice, Black Lives Matter and critical race theory are all signs of liberalism sneaking in the back door.

Kelley believes the SBC, which was founded by slaveholders and thrived in the Jim Crow South, has moved on since repenting of its racism in a 1995 resolution disavowing its past. It has no need, he said, for unbiblical movements such as Black Lives Matter or critical race theory.

The Conservative Baptist Network, formed in 2020, exists in part to hold the line against what it calls “worldly ideologies” infiltrating the Southern Baptist Convention. Its leaders recently published the text of a resolution condemning critical race theory at a website titled “Southern Baptists Against Racism.”

In a statement published on the network’s website, the group wished Moore well in his new role at Christianity Today and asked Baptists to pray for the future of the ERLC.

The statement also praised Georgia Baptist pastor Mike Stone, a longtime critic of Moore and the ERLC who is running for SBC president at June’s annual meeting. Stone, a former chair of the SBC Executive Committee, pressed for and led a recent task force that looked into Moore’s leadership at the ERLC and its effect on giving in the SBC.

“Pastor Mike Stone did not just talk about the issues,” the statement read. “He boldly acted in the face of great opposition. That is the very kind of leadership that is critically needed at this hour. We would do well to remember this as we vote for the next president of our Southern Baptist Convention.”

Other announced candidates for SBC president are Randy Adams, executive director/treasurer of the Northwest Baptist Convention; Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; and Ed Litton, pastor of Redemption Church in Saraland, Ala., and one of the authors of the “Deep South Joint Statement on the Gospel, Racial Reconciliation and Justice.”

Randy Davis, executive director of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, said that he was thankful for the leadership Moore showed during his time at the ERLC, especially on pro-life concerns. But he called Moore’s departure an “opportunity for a new direction.”

Moore left big footprints

Just as many, however, will be disturbed by where Moore’s departure leaves the SBC. Marshal Ausberry Sr., president of the National African American Fellowship of the SBC, said Moore has been key to the denomination’s handling of racial matters, specifically encouraging his fellow Southern Baptists to live up to the 1995 resolution.

“Dr. Moore has been a tremendous friend to the National African American Fellowship and on the forefront of race relations,” Ausberry said. “He’s been a very positive force in the convention and sometimes even the conscience of the convention in the area of race relations.”

He added that Moore has left “tremendous” footprints in the denomination and that he can’t be replicated.

“I think the person coming in can’t be another Russell Moore, but if they’re a person of good conscience and good moral character and a high view of Scripture, and not only the Great Commission but also the Great Commandment, that we love one another, they will, as God has wired them, they will fill the void.”

Newbell pointed out that Moore’s tenure at the ERLC did not create divisions over race and politics in the SBC. The polarization of recent years simply revealed what was hidden.

Healing those divides will take repentance and honest conversation and some changes, said Newbell. “I feel very much like, this is what the Bible says,” she said. “Why don’t we just do it?”

‘Retirement home for the furious few’

The answer may lie in the Southern Baptists’ proclivity for fighting.

Phillip Bethancourt, the pastor of Central Church in College Station, and former vice president of the ERLC, said Moore told him that he was leaving in part because of the toll the years of anger toward him was taking on his family.

At one point, one of Moore’s sons went to him with a question: Did you do something wrong?

That led Moore to take his son to a meeting of the SBC’s Executive Committee so that the young man could see what was happening with his dad.

That reason for Moore’s departure, as much as anything else, left Bethancourt worried about the SBC’s future.

“The Southern Baptist Convention has to decide whether they want to be a house of prayer for the nations or a retirement home for a furious few,” he said.

Adelle Banks contributed to this report. 

Bert B. Dominy of Fort Worth, veteran professor of theology, died May 19. He was 83. He was born Jan. 9, 1938 to Bert F. and Jewell Dominy in Houston. He married Jo Dominy on August 10, 1962, in Lubbock. He began his teaching career at Wayland Baptist University in 1966. He moved to Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in the fall of 1968 and taught systematic theology there through the spring of 2001. Dominy completed his teaching career at Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary, teaching there until his retirement in 2007. One of his greatest joys was preaching as an interim pastor in churches in Texas and the world. His colleague Joel Gregory said of Dominy: “He was a gracious combination of friend, encourager, academic and churchman. His roots were deep in the soil of Texas Baptists, but his comprehension of theology was global and nuanced.” Dominy is survived by his wife of 58 years, Jo Dominy; son, Steven Dominy and wife Missy; daughter, Susan Dominy; and two grandchildren.

WASHINGTON (RNS)—On Pentecost Sunday, some members of Southwood Lutheran Church in Lincoln, Nebraska, sang hymns without masks for the first time in more than a year.

They vocalized “Multilingual Grace” in four languages after music director Denise Makinson taught them how to express thanks in Spanish, Arabic, Swahili and Korean.

“I do have to say it was quite emotional yesterday to hear the congregation singing all the hymns,” Makinson said in an interview on May 24. “It was definitely something I missed.”

Pentecost is often celebrated as the “birthday” of the Christian church. It frequently includes a reading from the New Testament Book of Acts about the Holy Spirit descending on Jesus’ followers, who then begin to speak and understand languages they had not known.

“I think they were also emotional about it, to hear people’s voices,” Makinson said of Southwood’s congregants.

Some people sang with masks on, others with them off—a mix that is likely to continue across the country for a while as congregations navigate the “new normal” of the continuing pandemic when not everyone is vaccinated.

Hymn Society: ‘There is still risk’

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recent announcement that fully vaccinated people could generally resume pre-pandemic activities has played a part in new decisions by congregations. But the CDC’s guidance was about individuals; its advice for “communities of faith” has not been updated since Feb. 19 and currently does not mention singing.

The Hymn Society’s Center for Congregational Song has declared in its own latest guidance: “We do not currently recommend that congregations sing.”

Its May 20 blog post also included questions that might further guide congregations about higher- or lower-risk activities. They covered such topics as the percentage of fully vaccinated congregants, the chances of some congregants remaining unmasked and not distanced, and whether people wear their masks properly.

But, it added, no matter how those questions are answered, “There is still risk.”

Multiple factors to consider

Brian Hehn, director of the center, said it’s been difficult to know how to instruct churches at this time.

“There are so many factors that go into determining whether or not it’s safe that it’s really hard to advise people, and it’s also hard for them to make a decision,” he said.

He noted air exchange rates as an example of one factor religious leaders must consider as they try to gauge the best way to reduce the movement of aerosols in the air of a sanctuary. Scientists have found singing could expel aerosolized virus particles more than speaking can.

“Most people have no idea what their air exchange rate is, so you have to contact your air conditioning company and do research on what kind of system you have and how it was installed and whether it’s filtered,” Hehn said.

Fewer concerns about outdoor worship

Ed Phillips, co-convenor of the Ecumenical Consultation on Protocols for Worship, Fellowship and Sacrament, said his organization is also coming down on the side of caution, urging mask-wearing indoors for “any sort of congregational responses or singing that would cause us to use a loud voice or sustained singing voice.”

He said “restrictions are much less necessary” for outdoor worship.

“Our guidance around singing at this point is to take a relatively conservative approach because congregations tend to be multigenerational gatherings and also gatherings where we will have both vaccinated and unvaccinated people, possibly of differing ages,” said Phillips, associate professor of historical theology and Christian worship at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology.

The group, which has consulted with the CDC, plans to officially release its final guidance in English, followed by a version in Spanish, in June.

Phillips said the consultation advises congregation leaders to use websites such as covidactnow.org to keep tabs on the latest information about the pandemic, along with advice from their local health officials, to determine what is considered safer in their particular situation.

Makinson, of the Nebraska church, said her congregation’s loosening of mask restrictions for congregational singing came on the first Sunday after a mask mandate in her community expired.

With about 200 people at each of the three services, she said it was fitting that some masks came off and singing could be heard more fully on Pentecost Sunday.

“We were definitely hoping the Spirit was present and protecting everyone,” she said.

DALLAS—A majority of Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board members participated in their first in-person meeting in more than a year, gathering in Dallas to hear reports and conduct routine business. Another 23 directors participated in the hybrid-format meeting remotely via Zoom on May 24-25.

Meeting challenges

“I think we’ve made it,” BGCT Executive Director David Hardage told the board in his report. “It’s been a challenging year.”

Texas Baptists rose to the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, providing short-term emergency assistance to pastors in need and providing relief for Baptist encampments, he said.

“There’s a lot of noise out there. There are a lot of distractions,” Hardage acknowledged.

But the GC2 initiative—an emphasis on Christ’s Great Commission and Great Commandment—helped Texas Baptists keep their “eyes on the ball,” he added.

“We are a loving-God, loving-others, making-disciples kind of convention,” Hardage said.

Looking ahead, he reported the board at its September meeting may consider a new relationship agreement with the Baptist Standard, pending a decision by the board’s institutional relations committee.

In December 2019, the Baptist Standard Publishing Company’s board of directors adopted a restated and amended certificate of formation, which the organization filed with the Texas Secretary of State. The restated certificate of formation says the non-profit corporation “shall have no members,” reflecting language in the incorporating documents of some other organizations related to the BGCT.

The board also approved a resolution that stated, “Be it resolved that the Baptist Standard Publishing Company will maintain its longstanding partnership with the Baptist General Convention of Texas for the purpose of informing and resourcing the churches and institutions of the convention and the broader Christian community.”

Hardage also noted a recent resolution approved by the Baylor University board of regents. It reaffirmed the university’s traditional statement on human sexuality while opening the door to the possibility of a chartered organization to provide care and support for LGBTQ students.

He reported he had communicated “thoughts, concerns and ideas to BGCT-elected regents and the administration” at Baylor.

“There is a storm brewing,” Hardage said. He pointed to the Equality Act—a bill in the U.S. Congress that would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to extend protection based on sexual orientation and gender identity—along with some litigation involving Christian colleges and universities regarding issues of human sexuality.

‘Look up.  Hold on. Stay together.’

BGCT President Jason Burden, pastor of First Baptist Church in Nederland, noted challenges his community has faced in recent years, including hurricanes, tropical storms and a chemical plant explosion. He also described personal challenges, such as a prenatal condition that threatened the lives of the twins born to his son and daughter-in-law.

At times, he confessed, he was tempted to say, “It can’t get any worse.” Burden said he learned to trust in the “anchor” provided in Psalm 29:10-11—“The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD is enthroned as King forever. The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace.”

Burden offered three admonitions to Texas Baptists during trying days: “Look up. Hold on. Stay together.”

“Hold on to one another. We need each other,” he said.

Ward Hayes, BGCT treasurer and chief financial officer, reported through March 31, BGCT Cooperative Program receipts are at 97.7 percent compared to the same period last year, and gifts are meeting budget expectations. In the first quarter, Texas Cooperative Program gifts totaled $7,578,097.

In its business session, the board approved a recommendation from the finance committee to move amounts in the convention reserve fund in excess of $7 million to an investment account at HighGround Advisors. The current reserve fund balance is more than $15 million.

The board also approved a recommendation to raise the annual matching amount available to ministers’ retirement from $210 to $250. The minimum Cooperative Program contributions required for a church to be eligible for the matching funds will be $1,200 a year for the first participating minister and $500 a year for any additional ministers or staff.

In other business, the board:

• Filled vacancies by electing Tyler Cooper from Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas to the Baylor University board of regents and Jorge Zayasbazan, pastor of Baptist Temple in San Antonio, to the board of Baptist Health Foundation of San Antonio.
• Redesignated $100,000 of undistributed income from the Roger W. Hall Opportunity Scholarship Fund for each of the next three years to provide program expenses for the BGCT’s church health/revitalization ministry. The maximum amount of scholarship awards was increased from $15,000 to $20,000 per year.
• Appointed Ward Hayes as successor trustee of the Charles Wade Deferred Compensation Insurance Trust, following the resignation of Ronnie McClure from that role. The trustee has the responsibility to handle all necessary filings, administration and tax documentation for the trust.
• Adopted a certified resolution granting the executive director, associate executive director and treasurer/CFO authority to sign checks and contracts. Any nonbudgeted contract exceeding $250,000 requires prior approval of the BGCT Executive Board.
• Revised statements in the BGCT policy manual to bring them in line with the existing organizational structure, as well as updating policy statements regarding counseling services and information technology services usage.

NASHVILLE (RNS)—The nation’s largest Protestant denomination continues to get smaller.

There were 14 million members of Southern Baptist churches in 2020, according to a new report released May 20 by Lifeway Christian Resources, which compiles official denominational statistics.

That number is down 435,632 members since 2019 and down 2.3 million from 2006, when the Southern Baptist Convention’s churches reached 16.3 million members.

Worship attendance was also down about 15 percent, with 4.4 million people attending in-person services on a weekly basis. That figure was likely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, where churches around the country shut down in-person services to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

“COVID-19 clearly impacted in-person attendance,” Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research, said in a statement announcing the report. “Throughout much of the year, churches tried to find the right balance of both in-person and online events.”

Southern Baptists, long known for denominational infighting, have seen several high-profile departures of leaders in the past year, including Bible teacher Beth Moore, ethicist Russell Moore and some prominent Black pastors.

The SBC also faced controversy over revelations of abuse, disputes over support for Donald Trump and a debate over critical race theory.

The biggest decline in the report was seen in baptisms, a key measure for the evangelical denomination. In 2020, baptisms were down by about half, to 123,160, the lowest number since 1919.

“The last year Southern Baptists saw this few people follow Christ for the first time was 1918 and 1919, when the influenza pandemic was sweeping the world,” McConnell said.

Ronnie Floyd, president of the SBC’s Executive Committee, said the report showed a need for a renewed focus on evangelism, missions and church planting.

“It may take years for us to know the full effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on our churches,” Floyd told Baptist Press. “There are lessons to be learned from 2020 as we put it behind us—such as the vital need for corporate worship, the value of being creative in developing ways to share the gospel, and how much local communities need our churches to minister in difficult circumstances.”

Total giving to Southern Baptist churches, according to the report, was $11.5 billion, with a reported $1 billion being given to missions.

The report was based on data from 69 percent of Southern Baptist churches, down from reports in previous years, which drew on data from three-quarters of churches.

DALLAS (BP)—In a called meeting May. 20, the GuideStone board of trustees unanimously elected D. Hance Dilbeck Jr. as president-elect.

Dilbeck will begin service July 1 alongside current GuideStone President O.S. Hawkins. After a transition period, Hawkins will become president emeritus and Dilbeck will become president and CEO in the first quarter of 2022.

Dilbeck, executive director-treasurer of Oklahoma Baptists since 2018, accepted the call and gave thanks to the Lord, his family and trustees for the opportunity to serve at GuideStone.

Steve Dighton, retired pastor of Lenexa (Kan.) Baptist Church and chair of the presidential search committee, said the committee bathed the process in prayer to seek out the Lord’s candidate in this process. He said 15 candidates were recommended.

“We established a process where we were determined to only consider prospects recommended to us from our Southern Baptist family,” Dighton said. “We solicited feedback for three months, and even added one more month to give time for more recommendations to come in.”

Hawkins expressed his confidence to trustees in their selection.

“Hance Dilbeck is one of the most respected men in Southern Baptist life,” Hawkins said. “He has pastored all sizes of Southern Baptist churches, has a heart for serving pastors from small, medium and large churches; he understands the dynamics and complexity of GuideStone’s ministry, and he is a quick learner.

“And he is among the humblest men I’ve ever known, so he’ll be one who has a learner’s heart as he embarks on this new calling from the Lord. Susie and I are holding Hance and Julie in our hearts and prayers, and we invite Southern Baptists to join us in lifting them up.”

Dilbeck’s wife, Julie Dilbeck, has served as a GuideStone trustee since 2019. She resigned her post at the called meeting and did not vote in the selection process.

Background in pastorate, denominational service

Dilbeck has served Oklahoma churches as pastor for more than 30 years. He was pastor at Quail Springs Baptist Church in Oklahoma City for 15 years before being called in 2018 to lead Oklahoma Baptists. During that time, the church tripled in size even as it took part in planting 32 churches.

He has been active in denominational life, having served as chairman of the board of trustees at Oklahoma Baptist University, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and the International Mission Board. He is a past second vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention.

“Julie and I have a clear sense of the Lord’s calling to GuideStone,” Dilbeck said. “We are grateful for how the search committee and their prayerful process helped confirm this calling. Dr. Hawkins has been a faithful steward and transformational leader for almost 25 years. He has assembled a world-class team.

“I am asking our Father for grace to be faithful with this stewardship and effective with the platform; serving those who serve the Lord.”

‘Bittersweet’ for Oklahoma Baptists

Todd Fisher, senior pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Shawnee, Okla., and the current president of Oklahoma Baptists, called the news “bittersweet.”

“We are excited for this new opportunity for Hance and know he will do an excellent job leading GuideStone,” Fisher said. “We are proud that one of our fellow Oklahomans will be at the helm of a national entity in the SBC.

“At the same time, Hance’s departure leaves a big void for us. His leadership these last three years has been stellar and visionary in keeping our state convention focused and well situated to advance the gospel together in unity.

“He will be sorely missed, but we are confident of great days ahead for GuideStone and Oklahoma Baptists.”

Dilbeck also offered his thanks to and love for Oklahoma Baptists for the opportunity to serve as their executive director-treasurer.

“We are grateful for the opportunity to serve as the pastor of great churches in Oklahoma for 30 years,” he said. “The Lord used these people to give me a shepherd’s heart. Serving as executive director put me in a position to learn from godly leaders in churches and ministries of all sizes. I have developed a burden for encouraging pastors and ministry leaders to give careful attention to their own wellness and the wellness of their families.”

Born in Pawhuska, Okla., Dilbeck earned his undergraduate in religion from Oklahoma Baptist University. He holds two degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary—a Master of Divinity obtained in 1992 and a Doctor of Ministry earned in 2002.

The Dilbecks have three grown and married sons and eight grandchildren.

Researchers agree LGBTQ students often struggle with isolation, loneliness and fear of assault while in college.

But the Council For Christian Colleges & Universities insists a comparison of two independent studies reveals LGBTQ students have better experiences at faith-based institutions than their peers in American universities overall.

The CCCU—an international association of more than 180 Christian schools—compared data from a 2018 national analysis by Rutgers University with a recent College Pulse study commission by the Religious Exemption Accountability Project.

In March, REAP filed a class-action suit against the U.S. Department of Education on behalf of  33 plaintiffs. In Hunter v. U.S. Department of Education, plaintiffs claim religious exemptions from nondiscrimination requirements of Title IX are unconstitutional when schools receive federal funds, such as grants or student loans. Baylor University is among more than two-dozen faith-based schools mentioned in the suit.

Title IX states: “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.”

Faith-based schools are allowed to request a religious exemption from parts of Title IX to the extent that its application “would be inconsistent with the religious tenets of the organization.”

Organization files motions regarding suit

On May 12, the CCCU filed a motion to be an official participant in the case so it can defend Title IX religious protections.

“Removing Title IX’s religious exemption, as applied to LGBT students or otherwise, will deprive religious colleges of the oxygen that gives them life by forbidding them, on pain of losing federal assistance for their students, from teaching and expecting adherence to their core religious beliefs,” the motion states.

The organization also submitted a motion to dismiss the suit based on what it termed “frivolous legal claims,” while adding that it “takes reports of student experience seriously.”

“We know the college experience can be stressful, and even more so for LGBTQ students who are working to understand how their sexual orientation or gender identity intersects with their personal faith,” CCCU President Shirley Hoogstra said.

“We also know from national data that this issue is not unique to Christian colleges, and that LGBTQ students experience challenges at colleges and universities nationwide. Research shows that in many important areas, LGBTQ students at faith-based institutions actually have better experiences than LGBTQ students at non faith-based institutions.”

When contacted by the Baptist Standard, REAP Director Paul Carlos Southwick said: “The two studies cannot generate an apples-to-apples comparison, as they were fielded five years apart, used different questions, and the Rutgers study appears to include both religious and non-religious campuses without disaggregating the data. But what both studies show is that LGBTQ+ students experience mental and physical health disparities at both secular and religious campuses. Moreover, LGBTQ+ students are protected by law and can get help at their secular campuses, whereas they are not protected by law and feel powerless to get help at their non-affirming religious campuses.”

CCCU offers comparison

According to the CCCU comparison of the Rutgers study and the study commissioned by REAP:

• While 4 in 10 sexual or gender minority students are “uncomfortable with their sexual identity on campus” at religious schools, 5 in 10 queer-spectrum students and 7 in 10 trans-spectrum students do not feel “respected” on secular public university campuses.
• Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of sexual minority students report isolation and loneliness at religious colleges, about 18 percent more than “straight” students on those same campuses. However, nearly 8 in 10 (79 percent) of queer-spectrum students on public campuses report feeling “very lonely.” That’s 20 percent more than their heterosexual and cisgender peers on those same campuses, and it’s 15 percent more than their sexual minority peers at religious schools.
• Sexual minority students are more likely to be physically assaulted or sexually assaulted on secular campuses verses religious campuses—3 percent vs. 1 percent concerning physical assault and 16.6 percent vs. 5 percent regarding sexual assault.

With respect to issues related to depression and suicidal thoughts among sexual minority students, the two studies produced similar results. At both religious and secular schools, 60 percent of LGBTQ students report depression. Among LGBTQ students at Christian colleges, 20 percent report suicidal thoughts, compared to 23.5 percent at secular schools.

“The similarity of these numbers is actually surprising, given that the REAP figures regarding the religious colleges were obtained during the pandemic, when the overall levels of anxiety and depression have been considerably higher than when the Rutgers numbers were obtained in 2016 and 2017,” a statement on the CCCU website reads.

At its most recent meeting, Baylor’s board of regents adopted a resolution saying it “remains committed to extending Christ-like love and grace in caring for all our students and meeting them where they are, just as Jesus did, and adhering to traditional biblical teaching of Scripture regarding human sexuality.”

Regents opened the door to allow a new chartered group to offer care and support for LGBTQ students, but the board did not change its policy statement on human sexuality, which includes the expectation that “Baylor students will not participate in advocacy groups which promote understandings of sexuality that are contrary to biblical teaching.”

Jason Cook, vice president for marketing and communication at Baylor, noted the regents had spent at least two years discussing ways to meet the needs of LGBTQ students, and the specific data cited by the CCCU “did not factor into the decision process.”

“Baylor is affiliated with the CCCU, and as such, we support the organization’s work,” Cook added.

WACO (RNS)—Emily Smith didn’t realize there was such a divide between faith and science for many Christians.

Smith’s parents led worship at a charismatic church—“just a fantastic experience and upbringing.” She married a Baptist pastor. She studied science and medicine, because she dreamed of becoming a medical missionary. She volunteered in the kitchen and made balloon animals aboard Mercy Ships in Honduras while in college. Eventually, she became an epidemiologist.

For her, epidemiology was a natural way to live out her Christian beliefs, loving her neighbor the way Jesus commanded and caring for the most vulnerable—like the Good Samaritan of Jesus’ parable did when he stopped to care for an injured man while others passed by.

“My first (Facebook) post on faith was about the Good Samaritan, because I see the field of epidemiology as that: Quantify who’s the vulnerable, and we don’t walk by,” said Smith, now 40 and assistant professor of epidemiology at Baylor University in Waco.

‘Love thy neighbor’

Then came COVID-19, a time when she thought Christians—with their commitment to “love thy neighbor”—might shine.

Smith started Friendly Neighbor Epidemiologist, a Facebook page, in March 2020 to share information about the novel coronavirus and answer questions she was hearing from her neighbors and friends. Yes, COVID-19 was something they should pay attention to. No, they didn’t need to hoard toilet paper.

Since then, the page, written in Smith’s friendly, informational voice, has grown to more than 96,000 followers. About half are evangelical Christians, she said.

But threats and pushback have also followed—all but one from her fellow Christians. She has been sent pictures of guns, handwritten letters about the “mark of the beast” and the End Times, messages telling her she should leave the preaching to her husband or telling her she is going to hell.

That’s nothing compared to what many others have put up with for much longer, she said.

But, the epidemiologist added, “Every time I would talk about faith over fear and masking as a way to show our freedom and allegiance to Jesus, they would come.”

At first, Smith was answering questions on Facebook about whether face masks work and whether churches should continue to meet in person.

Change in tone

Over the summer, though, she saw some Christians begin to shift the narrative in ways that were alarmingly racist, blaming the spread of COVID-19 on Black Lives Matter protests, immigrants arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border and Asian Americans. None of the data supported that, she posted on the Friendly Neighbor Epidemiologist page.

She heard arguments that masking was a sign of fear and not of faith. She kept pointing back to Galatians 5, which says while Christians are called to be free, they are to use that freedom to “serve one another humbly in love.”

“I think wearing a mask and getting a vaccine, full of faith, displays my lack of fear more than going to an unmasked church service just to prove something,” she said.

Especially troubling to her were people who refused to wear masks, especially at large gatherings hosted by evangelical Christian leaders, like Franklin Graham’s Prayer March 2020 in Washington, D.C., and services at John MacArthur’s Grace Community Church in California.

“I was hearing all of this stuff, and I was uncomfortable, because that’s just not Jesus to me or ‘love thy neighbor,’” she said.

Encouraging Christians to get vaccine

These days, Smith is posting a lot about the COVID-19 vaccines, as polling by the Pew Research Center shows 45 percent of white evangelicals say they definitely or probably will not get vaccinated against COVID-19, a higher number than any other religious group.

She’s not the only Christian urging evangelicals to get vaccinated.

Curtis Chang, a faculty member at Duke Divinity School and senior fellow at Fuller Theological Seminary, has launched ChristiansAndTheVaccine.com in partnership with the National Association of Evangelicals to help pastors and other Christian leaders talk about the COVID-19 vaccines.

Franklin Graham, head of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and evangelical relief organization Samaritan’s Purse, appeared on “Axios on HBO” to encourage evangelicals to get vaccinated, saying his father, the late evangelist Billy Graham, would have supported it.

Also, Pastor Robert Jeffress’ megachurch, First Baptist in Dallas, hosted a vaccination clinic.

Smith said she’s glad Graham and Jeffress, who both informally advised the previous president, are speaking out now about the vaccines, but, she added, “I wish they would have been as vocal about loving your neighbor through masking and public health precautions for the last year.”

There’s a reason why the Friendly Neighbor Epidemiologist approach has resonated with so many Christians, according to Aaron Kheriaty, director of the Medical Ethics Program at UCI Health.

“I think one of the reasons there’s serious engagement with Dr. Smith’s website is that this is a Facebook page that doesn’t just engage in sloganeering. It tries to unpack complicated science for the lay public, and people are obviously hungry for that,” Kheriaty said, speaking alongside Smith on a panel about faith communities and COVID-19 vaccines last month at the virtual Religion News Association Mini-con.

Speaking from a dual perspective

A.R. Bernard of the Christian Cultural Center in Brooklyn, who appeared alongside Smith in one of a series of live videos hosted by Facebook on the topic of faith and COVID-19, noted her ability to speak “from both a pastoral perspective and a scientific perspective.”

Smith said she believes Friendly Neighbor Epidemiologist has taken off the way it has because her experience of the pandemic has been the same as so many other Christians’ experiences. Her Facebook page has given a voice to those who believed wearing a mask was a way to “love thy neighbor”—her mantra for the past year.

She’s heard all the same arguments and conspiracy theories they have. She and her husband even left their church this past year, she said.

“I think there were a lot of people like me that had to make a decision: Were they OK with what they saw unearthed in 2020? A lot of people left their churches, a lot of people left faith in general. There’s just an entire population of Christians that are homeless now,” she said.

But, Smith said, she’s come out the other side. She’s found a new Baptist church that shares her view of what it means to “love thy neighbor” and offers a bit of quiet at a time that feels anything but. In 2021, she said, she wants to share with other Christians that’s possible for them, too.

“Hopefully, it can give people hope there’s more to Christianity than what is being shown on Fox News,” she said.

Baylor University’s Give Light Campaign surpassed the $1 billion mark May 13 with a gift from Paula Hurd from Silicon Valley, Calif. The $7 million gift will be recognized through the naming of the Mark and Paula Hurd Floor at the Baylor Basketball Pavilion. Paula Hurd is a current Baylor regent, and her late husband Mark was a Baylor alumnus and regent. The Baylor Basketball Pavilion, which will serve as the new home for Baylor’s men’s and women’s basketball programs, is one of the priority capital projects within the $1.1 billion Give Light Campaign. “We are truly grateful for Paula’s continued commitment to Baylor University and our vision for building toward Baylor’s future,” said Baylor President Linda A. Livingstone. “Three years ago, Baylor University announced Mark and Paula’s leadership through a gift naming the Mark and Paula Hurd Welcome Center, which effectively launched the public phase of fundraising for the Give Light Campaign. We are truly honored that the Hurd family’s generosity once again marks a significant milestone of $1 billion raised through the campaign. I am grateful for the Hurd family’s generous gift that is helping once again to ensure we have top-tier resources and facilities for our students and the Baylor Family.”

Kenzie Crews from Keller and Edward Funderburke from Austin were named the Citizenship Award winners for 2021 at Wayland Baptist University. Voted on by students and faculty, the Citizenship Award is the highest honor given each year to a Wayland senior male student and female student. Crews, who majored in English education, served as a President’s Ambassador and was a member of Student Foundation, the Baptist Student Ministry leadership team and Council of Student Organizations. Crews was also the student director of Koinonia in 2020. She will start her teaching career next fall at a high school in the Dallas area. Funderburke, who majored in music theater, served on the Student Union Board and was a member of the Wayland Show Choir and International Choir, and he was the president of Student Foundation. He will pursue a master’s degree in education and hopes to teach performing theater arts.

Dallas Baptist University awarded degrees to 554 graduates during four in-person commencement ceremonies May 13-14. The university conferred 333 bachelor’s graduates, 209 master’s graduates, and 12 doctoral graduates. Jurie Kriel of Austin, co-founder of the NXT Move initiative and catalyst for cities for the Lausanne Movement, spoke at two of the commencement services. Mike Simmons, pastor of Hillcrest Baptist Church in Cedar Hill; and William Jan Daehnert, associate professor and interim director of the Master of Arts in Student Ministry program at DBU, spoke at the other ceremonies.

Three Howard Payne University students were recognized as Outstanding Delegates during a recent Model United Nations conference hosted in Montreal—Sierra Ross, a senior from Galveston; Joseph Lahmann, a senior from Killeen; and Hallie Burden, a sophomore from Nederland. Madison Tuck, a sophomore from Edgewood, N.M., also represented HPU at the conference and helped lead her committee to a win. The HPU delegation was led by Madeline DuPré, a senior from Leander, and Jacob Lehrer, a senior from Midland. Model United Nations is a diplomatic simulation that uses current world issues to allow students to practice problem-solving. Participants represent various nations as delegates and follow diplomatic procedure, including caucusing, writing position papers and presenting in formal settings, following the model of the United Nations. The international conference included more than 140 students in delegations representing 22 institutions in China, England, Germany, Indonesia and Uganda, as well as the United States and Canada. HPU’s three awards were of a total of six that were presented to the four American institutions represented at the conference.

Sarah Herrington has joined the faculty of the School of Music at Wayland Baptist University as director of choral studies. Herrington spent the last nine years at Lubbock Christian University as an instructor of voice and collaborative pianist. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Wayland in 2000, then went on to earn a master’s degree in vocal performance from Texas Tech University in 2005 and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in choral conducting from Texas Tech in 2008. She served Wayland previously as an adjunct professor of voice and was director of the Wayland Singing Women and the Spirit vocal ensemble. She has served as accompanist or choral director for area churches, including First Baptist Church in Shallowater and Second Baptist Church in Lubbock. She was director of the regional chapter of the Singing Women of West Texas for Texas Baptists. She also has taught public school and worked as an accompanist and collaborative pianist with the Texas Music Educators Association, Texas Choral Directors Association and Texas Tech University. She and her husband Scott, former Wayland choral director, have two sons.

Pastor Michael Evans of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Mansfield, who also is mayor of Mansfield, will be the keynote speaker for the online Advocacy Day 2021 event at 10 a.m. on May 27. “Advocating for the oppressed” is the theme of the event, sponsored by the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission. Following the keynote address, 10 workshop videos will be available on topics ranging from “Why Pro-Life is Whole Life: Babies, Moms and So Much More” to “Mobilizing the Faith Community for Public Education Support and Advocacy.” To access all the videos, click here, visit the CLC YouTube channel here, or see the CLC Facebook page here.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (RNS)—Russell Moore, embattled Southern Baptist ethicist and “Never Trumper,” is resigning as president of his denomination’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.

Moore will join the staff of Christianity Today—the leading evangelical magazine, founded by the late evangelist Billy Graham—as a public theologian.

In his new role, Moore will help launch a Public Theology Project and will serve as its leader, said Tim Dalrymple, president and CEO of Christianity Today.

That project will host events and gatherings about public theology and publish content, including Moore’s writing and his Signposts podcast.

“I’ve struggled with this decision, because my gratitude for the honor of serving the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission is so deep. As I conclude my time serving Southern Baptists as ERLC president, I am filled with gratitude as well as excitement for the future,” Moore said.

Dalrymple said Christianity Today “could not be more pleased with the addition of Russell Moore” in his new role.

“Russell is indisputably one of the most significant evangelical voices of our time. He illuminates the relevance of the gospel to the whole of life, from everyday matters of faith to the great debates in our society and culture,” Dalrymple said.

“Importantly, he does all of this in a voice that demonstrates what we at Christianity Today call beautiful orthodoxy, weaving together a deep commitment to the historic integrity of the church with a generous, charitable and humble spirit.”

Moore will begin his new role this summer.

“Christianity Today has meant a great deal to me in my faith journey,” Moore said. “I am thrilled to join the team and lead the Public Theology Project. We need to recover a theologically orthodox, intellectually credible, socially engaged, missiologically holistic, and generally connected witness for American evangelical Christianity. This is a critical moment, and the Public Theology Project is devoted toward that goal.”

Drew fire for criticism of Trump

Moore’s work as ERLC president has been increasingly overshadowed by friction over his criticism of former President Donald Trump, putting him at odds with many Southern Baptist and evangelical leaders.

In 2015, Moore called Trump an “arrogant huckster” who was unfit for office. Trump responded by labeling Moore “a nasty guy with no heart.”

Moore came to the ERLC in 2013 after serving as a dean, provost and theology professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kentucky. He had earlier worked in ministry in his native Mississippi.

Known as the public policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention, the ERLC, headquartered in Nashville, is “dedicated to engaging the culture with the gospel of Jesus Christ and speaking to issues in the public square for the protection of religious liberty and human flourishing,” according to its mission statement.

Moore’s predecessor, Richard Land, held the post of ERLC president for 25 years, often using it to wage culture wars. Land retired after apologizing for plagiarizing and for making racially insensitive comments about the death of Trayvon Martin.

While conservative theologically and politically, Moore offered a friendlier face to cultural engagement for Southern Baptists. The father of two adopted sons, he promoted adoption and immigration reform and has been known for his love of country music stars Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard and for poet Wendell Berry.

But with the rise of Trump, Moore took on a more political profile, and his opposition to the president led some Southern Baptist megachurches to withhold their giving to the denomination while others called for the ERLC to be defunded. A move to cut funding for the commission failed in 2018.

Target of SBC Executive Committee probe

Still, controversy remained. A recent task force report to the SBC Executive Committee labeled the ERLC “a distraction” for Southern Baptists.

David Prince, chair of the ERLC trustees, defended Moore after the report, saying the commission “has served Southern Baptists faithfully during a time of political, cultural and, in some cases, denominational chaos.”

Moore has largely remained quiet about the controversy over the role of the ERLC. Despite pushback, he remained steadfast in his criticism of Trump and called on him to resign after the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

The Baptist ethicist has also been an outspoken supporter of survivors of abuse in the Southern Baptist Convention and has called for Southern Baptists and other evangelicals to do more to heal racial divides in the church and the country.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Moore has encouraged evangelicals to get vaccinated—white evangelicals are least likely to do so, according to Pew Research—and has advised pastors on how to deal with vaccine hesitancy and congregational political divides exacerbated by the pandemic.

“It takes an equilibrium, it takes a patience with people who are having some trouble, while at the same time, not holding the rest of the congregation captive to what someone read online, what someone is talking about on Facebook right now,” Moore said during an “Evangelicals & COVID-19 Vaccine” online event in April. “That’s a very difficult balancing act.”