SBC's public policy arm rescinds removal of president, chair steps down amid controversy

In a terse statement on Monday night, the Southern Baptist Convention's public policy arm announced a sudden, surprising personnel change.

Brent Leatherwood, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission president, had been "removed" from the position, an essential firing that came less than 24 hours after he made statements applauding President Joe Biden's decision not to seek reelection.

By Tuesday morning, everything had changed.

Leatherwood wasn't going anywhere, the ERLC's executive committee said, retracting its statement that the president had ever been removed. There was no "authorized meeting, vote, or action" taken in Leatherwood's now-invalidated ouster.

"Brent Leatherwood remains the President of the ERLC and has our support moving forward," the executive committee said in an early morning statement.

By the time the retraction went public, Kevin Smith had resigned as the ERLC's executive committee chair and from its board. In a since-deleted social media statement, Smith apologized for making a "consequential procedural mistake."

In a broader statement provided to The Baptist Press, Smith said multiple conversations with executive committee members convinced him there was a "consensus" to remove Leatherwood as president on Monday, though the board committee reiterated its commitment to Leatherwood a day later.

"It is a delicate matter and, in an effort to deal with it expeditiously, I acted in good faith but without a formal vote of the Executive Committee," Smith said. "This was an error on my part, and I accept full responsibility.”

Leatherwood has not yet responded to a Tennessean request for comment, but in his own social media statement indicated at least some ERLC trustees had been blindsided by the news of his Monday night firing.

"I deeply appreciate everyone who has reached out, especially our trustees who were absolutely bewildered at what took place yesterday and jumped in to set the record straight," Leatherwood said.

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

Column on Biden stirs controversy

The Southern Baptist Convention is the nation's largest Protestant denomination and remains one of the most influential groups in American Christianity. The ERLC serves as its public policy arm, taking positions on key policies such as abortion and advocating for religious liberty.

It is unclear what exactly led to what now appears to be an unauthorized action to oust Leatherwood, who has led the ERLC since 2021. But the announcement of his removal as president came just hours after he made comments and published a column in the Baptist Press applauding Biden.

Leatherwood praised Biden not for his liberal politics, which Leatherwood has consistently criticized, but for the decision not to seek reelection and effectively walk away from power. Leatherwood called that a "rare" and "selfless" act rarely seen in a political sphere rife with personal ambition.

In the column, Leatherwood 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."

Tug of war among Southern Baptists over ERLC's role

Leatherwood's comments, though, were anathema to some among the SBC who have long targeted Leatherwood and the ERLC in an internal tug-of-war over the political priorities of the denomination.

SBC leaders like Leatherwood and Russell Moore, his predecessor who courted intense opposition for his criticism of now-former President Donald Trump, represent more mainstream conservative positions that have been challenged by an opposition faction seeking to push the ERLC, already a deeply conservative body, further right on cultural and political issues.

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 in Indianapolis. 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 Monday 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.”

On Tuesday, Ascol called the ERLC's retraction "a complete embarassment" to the SBC and urged trustees "to come clean with the churches that own the entity."

"It’s time for transparency — which churches have been requesting for years," Ascol said.

Meanwhile, other ERLC leaders apologized to Leatherwood over the whiplash.

"Brent deserves countless apologies for this error and all the assumptions that came with it," said Oklahoma pastor Eric Costanzo, who is an ERLC trustee. "He has proven to be a faithful leader and man of integrity time and again."

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: SBC's public policy arm rescinds removal of president, chair steps down