Controversial faith leader in Texas no longer listed trustee

Sudden removal on heels of comments made 18 years ago.

A religious leader who has faced turmoil in recent weeks for controversial comments he made 18 years ago is no longer listed as a trustee at a Dayton-area university.

Paige Patterson was one of the 28 members of Cedarville University’s board of trustees, but as of Saturday morning, his name and position appear to have been removed from the school’s website. This news organization has reached out to a university spokesman for comment.

Patterson was the president of the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Forth Worth, Texas, but he was removed to a “president emeritus” position a little more than a week ago. He had come under national scrutiny recently for suggesting in 2000 that a woman stay with her abusive spouse rather than seek a divorce.

Since the controversy began, Patterson has also been accused of mishandling an allegation of sexual abuse at another institution, according to the seminary. That allegation led the Southwestern Theological Seminary to fire Patterson from his emeritus position, according to a statement from the seminary.

On Friday, Cedarville University’s president released a statement on his personal website about Patterson and how the school handles accusations of sexual abuse.

In the statement, which was also sent to the campus community, president Thomas White said that he does not have the authority to appoint or remove a trustee from the university’s board. White also said of Patterson that he “appreciates the opportunities he gave me years ago and will always love him.”

“I am burdened as I have friends on all sides. He is not perfect. None of us are, but I would have handled several situations differently from him,” White said.

Patterson’s comments, made in 2000, were not widely circulated until recently. They have been re-examined in light of the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment and abuse.

In a recording, Patterson shared a story about a woman who came to him about abuse and his telling her to pray for God to intervene, The Washington Post reported. The woman came back to him later with two black eyes, he said.

“She said, ‘I hope you’re happy.’ And I said, ‘Yes ... I’m very happy,’ ” because her husband had heard her prayers and came to church for the first time the next day, according to The Post. Patterson was also heard on the recording saying that abused women should “be submissive in every way that you can.”

After the comments gained national attention, Patterson at first doubled down on them on May 4 before issuing an apology on May 14 in which he said, “I utterly reject any form of abuse.”