Oops. Southern Baptist agency announces firing of its leader, then retracts that announcement
In under 48 hours, the head of the staunchly conservative public-policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention rankled fellow Baptists by applauding President Joe Biden’s “selfless act” of withdrawing his candidacy for re-election. Then, his agency reported he was fired — and now they have reaffirmed his leadership.
The head-spinning series of events started Sunday, but by Tuesday morning, the SBC’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission announced that no, leader Brent Leatherwood wasn’t fired. Rather, he has the full support of his top board members — though its chairman resigned and apologized for the erroneous announcement.
On Monday, the commission issued a statement that the ERLC’s executive committee had removed Leatherwood in accordance with its bylaws.
But on Tuesday, it said, “There was not an authorized meeting, vote, or action taken by the Executive Committee. Kevin Smith has resigned as Chair of the Executive Committee.”
Leatherwood “has our support moving forward,” the executive committee statement said.
Smith, a Florida pastor, resigned both as chairman and as a board member, and he apologized Tuesday, according to a statement on Baptist Press, the denomination’s official news agency.
http://apnews.com/article/southern-baptists-public-policy-arm-conservative-leadership-6ee78020117041514fc927b5c53db35d
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