Leader of the Southern Baptist Convention's public policy arm ousted after Biden column

Update: On Tuesday morning, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission announced Brent Leatherwood would keep his position while the chair of the commission's executive committee has resigned. Read more here.

Brent Leatherwood, the president of the Southern Baptist Convention's public policy arm, has been removed from his position.

On Monday night, the SBC's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission issued a brief statement on behalf of the executive committee of its board confirming Leatherwood's removal but providing few details on what led to the ouster.

The sudden removal came less than 24 hours after Leatherwood praised President Joe Biden's decision to withdraw from the presidential race, publishing a column calling it the "correct" decision for the country. Leatherwood also made a separate statement to The Baptist Press calling Biden's decision "selfless."

“We should all express our appreciation that President Biden has put the needs of the nation above his personal ambition,” Leatherwood said. “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.”

Though Leatherwood praised Biden's decision in the column, he was also critical of Vice President Kamala Harris' record and potential presidential run, writing she would be "cause for considerable concern among pro-life advocates and those who hold to a biblical definition of marriage."

The column and comments, published by The Baptist Press and shared by ERLC's own social media accounts, immediately sparked backlash from some far-right factions within the conservative evangelical denomination.

Leatherwood in recent years has emerged as a target of an opposition conservative faction seeking to push the SBC further right in an ongoing denominational tug-of-war over cultural and political issues.

Leatherwood and his predecessor, Russell Moore, represented more mainstream conservative positions as the opposition faction sought to tilt the ERLC, already a deeply conservative body, rightward.

In June, leaders of the faction, notably Florida pastor Tom Ascol, sought to abolish the SBC’s public policy arm at the denomination’s annual meeting. The attempt followed another failed effort to abolish the ERLC in 2022 after Leatherwood and others expressed opposition for criminalizing women for abortions, a position hard line anti-abortion activists in the denomination refer to as "abolitionist."

“Not only is this a historic decision, it is the right decision for our convention,” Ascol said on social media about Leatherwood’s removal, mocking the former ERLC president’s statement on Biden. “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.”

Meanwhile, Moore called Leatherwood's removal "shameful and disgraceful."

"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," Moore said in a social media statement, calling Leatherwood a "great Christian man."

Moore himself clashed with opposition factions during his ERLC presidential tenure over his criticism of President Donald Trump as far back as the 2016 campaign. He resigned in 2021 to lead Christianity Today magazine as editor-in-chief.

Other leading Southern Baptists asked for prayers for Leatherwood and his family in the wake of his ouster.

"As Southern Baptists we should all care about our entities and their wellbeing," Southern Baptist Convention President Clint Pressley wrote on social media. "Let’s pray for Brent, for the ERLC, its employees, and their trustees."

Phillip Bethancourt, a Texas pastor who served at the ERLC with Moore, said he was "sad to see this development" and called on people to pray. He said on social media that the ERLC "still has a pivotal role to play in the midst of this hostile cultural moment."

Leatherwood was first appointed as president in September 2022 after previously serving as interim president following Moore’s resignation. He is a former executive director of the Tennessee Republican Party.

In the statement, the ERLC's executive committee said it removed Leatherwood from his post and would provide further details and plans for a transition at the board's Sept. 10-11 meeting in Nashville.

"Until then, the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees will assume directional responsibility for carrying out the ministry assignments for the ERLC," the statement said.

Leatherwood could not be immediately reached for comment.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: SBC: President of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission is ousted