Russell Moore target of lawsuit from SBC leader Mike Stone
Mike Stone, a leader of the group trying to pull the Southern Baptist Convention further to the right, has sued Russell Moore, the former president of the denomination’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, for “claims of defamation, false light invasion of privacy, and emotional distress.”
The lawsuit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court for Middle Tennessee, follows recent attacks against Moore from the ultra-conservative Southern Baptist wing for, they believe, deliberately leaking letters that criticized Southern Baptist leaders for mishandling sexual abuse claims in the Nashville-based denomination.
Stone, a pastor from Georgia, makes the same allegation against Moore in the lawsuit.
Moore “began a malicious, intentional, and egregious campaign to harm” Stone by “defaming him with the text of two letters strategically concealed from general distribution within the ERLC and the SBC,” the lawsuit states.
Several passages from Moore’s letters — the contents of which caused a stir in the convention just before its annual meeting in Nashville in June — specifically mention Stone. Stone was previously the chairman of the SBC executive committee, which handles denomination business outside of the two-day annual meeting.
Stone, who serves on the steering council for the Conservative Baptist Network, ran to be convention president at the June annual meeting but but lost to Alabama pastor Ed Litton.
Moore’s letters directly led to Stone’s loss, Stone alleges in his complaint.
Moore’s letters also harmed Stone’s reputation and “diminished his future earning capacity,” Stone’s complaint contends. Stone, who is represented by the Brentwood-based Cole Law Group, is seeking $750,000 in damages.
Moore did not immediately respond to multiple messages seeking comment Wednesday afternoon.
Stone told The Tennessean in an email that he would not personally comment on the lawsuit.
“By filing his Complaint, our client has taken the first step to repair the harm that has been inflicted upon his reputation and good name,” his attorneys said.
Moore, who still lives in Nashville, left the ERLC after working there for eight years to head the new Public Theology Project at Christianity Today.
When Moore was president of the ERLC, he was one of the most publicfacing leaders in the country’s largest Protestant denomination, commenting on major social and political issues from a Southern Baptist perspective.
Moore, vocally conservative on issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage, came under fire from some Southern Baptists for denouncing Donald Trump’s presidency.
Moore was also increasingly vocal in urging Southern Baptist leaders and churches to do more to prevent sexual abuse and protect victims.
“The church of Jesus Christ ought to be the body most responsible, most responsive, most tender, most loving toward those who have been harmed and hurt and traumatized” Moore said during a 2019 sermon in a Franklin church.
Particularly for his stance on Trump, Moore received criticism from the convention’s ultra-conservative wing.
In February 2020, the executive committee, with Stone as its chairman, commissioned a task force review of the ERLC to asses if its leadership was causing churches to withhold giving from the denomination’s Cooperative Program, the funding mechanism for ministry initiatives.
The rift between Moore and Stone, among others, widened when Moore’s letters leaked in June.
Stone alleges in his lawsuit that Moore “acted maliciously, intentionally, fraudulently, or recklessly by attempting to ruin Plaintiff’s person and professional reputation through a calculated public smear campaign.”
Only recently have Moore’s letters been a matter of public controversy, particularly in ultra-conservative Southern Baptist spaces. In recent weeks, the executive committee debated and voted on waiving attorney-client privilege for a third-party investigation into the executive committee’s handling of sexual abuse claims.
Jonathan Whitehead, who serves on the ERLC board, wrote a letter to officials overseeing the executive committee investigation claiming that Moore deliberately leaked his letters in June. Baptist and Reflector, a Tennessee Baptist publication, and Capstone Report, a conservative media outlet, reported on Whitehead’s letter, which is what caused the recent stir over Moore.
Jay Adkins, a Louisiana pastor and writer for the popular opinion blog “SBC Voices,” questions the timing and purpose of Stone’s lawsuit, given the very recent attention to Moore’s letters.
“It just seems really strange to me. I think a bunch of us are a bit confused about what the angle is here because it doesn’t bode well for him,” Adkins said.
“While Reverend Stone does not believe the Bible forbids all lawsuits between professing Christians, he recognizes the serious nature of the legal process and has only decided on taking this step after lengthy contemplation and personal reflection,” the lawyers said.
Liam Adams covers religion for The Tennessean. Reach him at ladams@tennessean.com or on Twitter @liamsadams.