Tensions erupt among Southern Baptists

Southern Baptists are fighting — again.

Questions on critical race theory, the role of women in the church and who should be the next leader of the Southern Baptist Convention are roiling the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S. It all could come to a head in Nashville, where thousands of Southern Baptists are expected to gather June 15-16 for their first annual meeting since the pandemic hit.

In the lead-up to the two-day event, tensions within the conservative evangelical network of churches are running higher than they have in decades.

Appeals for particular viewpoints and new revelations, like the leaked letters of a departing Southern Baptist leader who detailed pushback he received on race and sex abuse issues, keep lighting up social media feeds and adding fuel to the fight.

“You probably have to go back to 1990 to get one that has as much intensity and polarization,” said Greg Wills, a Southern Baptist historian and professor at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Disagreements are commonplace in Southern Baptist life, but 30 years ago the convention was on the tail end of a contentious conservative takeover when it met in New Orleans, Wills said.

Starting in 1979, theologically conservative Southern Baptists routed those who believed more moderate or liberal

interpretations of scripture out of leadership roles and convention-owned seminaries. Progressive and moderate splinter groups broke away.

Conservatives still control the Nashville-based convention today. But some Southern Baptists are arguing it’s drifted toward liberalism and a course correction in keeping with the conservative takeover is needed. Others say this faction is pushing for a fundamentalism that could spur more Southern Baptists, especially people of color, to leave the convention.

Several Black pastors and high-profile Southern Baptists, like Bible teacher Beth Moore, have publicly exited the convention since its last annual meeting in Birmingham, Alabama. As of 2020, membership in the predominantly white denomination stands at just more than 14 million, but has been in a 14-year free fall.

Amid all the controversy, the pre-registered messenger count hit 16,000 with one week to go before the start of the annual meeting. Messengers are the voting representatives from Southern Baptist churches. It is expected to be the biggest gathering Nashville has seen since the pandemic killed the city’s meeting industry.

THE NEXT SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION PRESIDENT

The disagreement over the direction of the network of more than 47,000 churches is playing out in the election of the convention’s next president, a position currently held by North Carolina pastor J.D. Greear. He is serving an unexpected third year due to the pandemic, but has led the convention amid a sexual abuse crisis, racial reckoning and political division.

The convention prioritizes local church autonomy, but its president has influence and appointment powers capable of shaping the denomination’s future. It does take more than one election to shift the direction of the convention, Wills said, noting the conservative resurgence was not implemented overnight.

Rolland Slade, chairman of the convention’s executive committee, hopes Southern Baptists find unity in Nashville, but he thinks the outcome of the election could drive churches out of the denomination, and it saddens him.

“I’m praying that we don’t have a big split,” said Slade, who leads a California church. “I think it’s possible.”

Four men have announced their willingness to be nominated for the convention’s top spot during the annual meeting in Nashville: Northwest Baptist Convention executive director and treasurer Randy Adams, Alabama pastor Ed Litton, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President R. Albert Mohler Jr. and Georgia pastor Mike Stone.

Messengers will formally nominate candidates Tuesday and the vote will follow. Additional presidential nominees could be added, but the four-way contest is already underway.

Southern Baptists have promoted their picks and positions via endorsements and criticisms. Some pushing for the conservative course correction are rallying around a “Take the ship” slogan. Fundraisers have launched to help cover travel costs so financially-strapped messengers can attend the meeting and vote.

CANDIDATES HAVE VARYING PRINCIPLES

The candidates are sharing their positions via Baptist media interviews, online video chats and in-person events.

In May, Tennessee Pastor Grant Gaines hosted Litton for a questionand-answer session at his church in Murfreesboro. The discussion hit on the hot-button issues the convention is struggling with as well as Litton’s vision for the future.

For Gaines, the election is about damage control and Litton is the clear choice.

“I think we need to pick the president that will do the least amount of damage in terms of sending signals about who we are as a convention, particularly around areas of race,” said Gaines, who leads Belle Aire Baptist Church.

Gaines thinks Southern Baptists pushing for a sweeping condemnation of critical race theory are sewing division within the convention. He said now is the time for Southern Baptists who care about the convention’s mission as well as racial reconciliation and diversity to push back against those always looking for their next battle.

“They’re always looking for the next liberal to fight,” Gaines said. “And if they can’t find a real liberal, they’ll slap the label on somebody else and go to war with them.”

The Conservative Baptist Network, a group calling for a “conservative reengagement,” is backing Stone. The Georgia pastor and former chairman of the convention’s executive committee is a part of the network’s leadership team.

The network, launched in February 2020, opposes critical race theory and a related resolution passed during the 2019 annual meeting in Birmingham. The group also is critical of women preaching and the Southern Baptists who opposed letting then-Vice President Mike Pence speak during the 2018 annual meeting in Dallas, Texas.

Ahead of this year’s gathering, the network put together an informational guide encouraging Southern Baptists to vote for “conservative candidates” as a way to preserve the convention.

Lee Brand Jr., vice president at Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary near Memphis, will vote for Stone. He sees the Georgia pastor and fellow colleague on the network’s steering council as a biblical pastor unwilling to compromise his principles.

Brand, who is a network-backed nominee for the convention’s first vice president position, see’s this year’s annual meeting as a “benchmark convention.”

“It’s one of those moments I think where we have an opportunity to set a definite direction of where we’re going and what our identity is as a convention,” Brand said.

For Brand, that means being people of the Bible who stand on the sufficiency of scripture.

From the 1940s to the 1980s — before the conservative resurgence — the beliefs of some Southern Baptist pastors, denominational leaders and many seminary professors could be categorized as a classic liberalism, Wills said.

“But you don’t have any now who believe that. There’s not a single professor at a Southern Baptist seminary unless they’re keeping a deep dark secret and that nobody can detect,” Wills said. “All of our seminary professors, all of our denominational leaders subscribe to the inerrancy of scripture.”

Those leveling accusations of a leftward drift either do not know what classic liberalism means or they are applying a fundamentalist definition and ascribing the label to anyone who is less conservative than they are on some issues, Wills said.

THE ROLE OF WOMEN A KEY DEBATE

The Baptist Faith and Message details the core beliefs Southern Baptists unite around, but also creates space for disagreement on issues not explicitly addressed in it, Wills said. One example is the role of women in ministry, he said.

The Southern Baptist statement of faith specifically restricts the office of pastor to men only. It is widely accepted, but some within the convention extend the ban to other ministry settings. Since views vary across the convention, some Southern Baptist women face criticism for how they serve in the church.

This is a long simmering debate that could come up in Nashville. Two recent events have reignited the debate and drawn attention to how women are treated in the convention.

The first was Beth Moore declaring she was no longer a Southern Baptist. The popular Bible teacher and advocate for victims of sexual abuse received an array of pushback, including for criticizing former President Donald Trump’s treatment of women.

The second involves one of the biggest churches in the convention.

In May, Saddleback Church in California, home to high-profile pastor and author Rick Warren, announced it had ordained its first three women pastors. The move drew criticism from Southern Baptist leaders. In a blog post, Greear said he disagreed and was disappointed by Saddleback’s decision.

CRITICAL RACE THEORY FIGHT CONTINUES TO BOIL

Debates about race also are not new in the denomination founded in support of slave-holding missionaries.

Over the past 25 years, the convention has taken steps toward racial reconciliation, including repudiating the evils of slavery and the sin of racism, as well as elevating Black Southern Baptists to leadership roles and calling on Christians to stop flying the Confederate battle flag.

But there have been setbacks. In 2017, messengers eventually disavowed the alt-right, but not before their first attempt failed.

The current iteration of this fight is largely focused on critical race theory and intersectionality, the latest culture war battle invading both the church and the public square.

Critical race theory teaches racism is ingrained in U.S. institutions and white people benefit from it. Intersectionality looks at how a person’s identities, like race and gender, converge and make them vulnerable to bias.

In Southern Baptist life, some say critical race theory and intersectionality can be helpful tools like other secular concepts used in church life while others say it isn’t biblical because scripture is all that is needed.

There have been two key flashpoints in the last three years.

When Southern Baptists met last, messengers passed a resolution saying critical race theory and intersectionality should only be used as analytical tools subordinate to scripture. Some continue to object to the 2019 resolution, which is a nonbinding statement.

“For me, there are manifold problems with that particular resolution,” Brand said. “My question is always, if the Bible is sufficient, why do we need the lens?”

In November 2020, the white presidents of the six Southern Baptist Convention seminaries released a statement condemning all forms of racism, but declaring critical race theory and intersectionality incompatible with Baptist beliefs. Several Black pastors announced they were cutting ties with the convention following the statement.

Gaines appreciated the nuance of the 2019 resolution in that it explained how critical race theory can be both helpful and harmful. But he thinks the seminary presidents’ statement was too simplistic.

“I think that hurt us,” Gaines said. “Within 24 hours, you’re seeing some of our prominent African American pastors and churches pulling out of the convention, and others that are kind of sitting back waiting to see what happens this summer.”

He thinks anyone but Litton winning the presidency could result in more minority pastors and churches leaving the convention.

In Nashville, these complex topics could come up via resolutions.

At least two competing resolutions addressing critical race theory and intersectionality have been submitted to this year’s committee for consideration. Messengers are expected to vote Tuesday on whatever makes it through the resolutions committee.

Stone announced in May he was putting one forward that declares critical race theory and intersectionality incompatible with Southern Baptist beliefs. More than 50 others signed on to it.

Oklahoma Pastor Todd Littleton disagrees with Stone’s resolution and responded with his own. Littleton’s proposal instead calls structural racism and oppression incompatible with the convention’s beliefs.

He wants the wider world to know not everyone within the convention agrees with the resolution Stone put forward. Littleton has been researching critical race theory and Christian responses to it.

“I think that we ought to be paying attention,” Littleton said. “If justice is an issue, righteousness is an issue. If we make a discovery that in our culture there are structures and systems that disadvantage people unjustly and unrighteously, a pastor ought to be aware of that.”

SEX ABUSE CONTINUES AS AREA OF CONCERN

The sexual abuse crisis in the church also could be front and center again in Nashville.

Two leaked letters signed by Russell Moore, the former head of the convention’s public policy arm, thrust the issue back into spotlight two weeks before the annual meeting. They’ve sparked responses and intense debate within Southern Baptist circles and beyond.

The letters, obtained by Religion News Service, The Washington Post and a Baptist blog, level allegations related to sexual abuse against the executive committee, which acts on behalf of the convention when it is not in session. Specifically, they detail the mistreatment of sexual abuse victims, the mishandling of abuse claims, intimidation and more.

They also describe racism expressed behind closed doors and the mistreatment of African Americans within the convention.

Some executive committee members have refuted the allegations or disagreed with the recollection of events detailed in the letters.

The letters came to light after Moore announced he was leaving his post at the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. Moore is joining Christianity Today as a public theologian and serving as a minister in residence at an Acts 29 congregation, Immanuel Church in Nashville.

Because of the letters, Gaines and North Carolina pastor Ronnie Parrott plan to call for a third party to investigate allegations against the executive committee during the annual meeting. Parrott announce their plans in a June 5 post on Twitter.

“The public witness of the SBC matters to every baptist pastor I know. I like many others want transparency and accountability in our entities,” Parrot said.

On Friday, the executive committee’s president and CEO announced the group hired Guidepost Solutions to conduct an independent review.