UPDATED: Leader of the Southern Baptist Convention's public policy arm ousted after Biden column (then reinstated)

[Eugene]

Last edited Tue Jul 23, 2024, 03:07 PM - Edit history (2)

UPDATE: Oops. Southern Baptist agency announces firing of its leader, then retracts that announcement (Associated Press)

Thanks to SunSeeker for the updated AP report.

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.

https://apnews.com/article/southern-baptists-public-policy-arm-conservative-leadership-6ee78020117041514fc927b5c53db35d

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Source: Nashville Tennessean

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

Updated Mon, July 22, 2024 at 11:52 PM EDT·4 min read

Brent Leatherwood, the president of the Southern Baptist Convention's public policy arm, has been removed from his position.

On Monday night, the SBC's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission issued a brief statement on behalf of the executive committee of its board confirming Leatherwood's removal but providing few details on what led to the ouster.

The sudden removal came less than 24 hours after Leatherwood praised President Joe Biden's decision to withdraw from the presidential race, publishing a column calling it the "correct" decision for the country. Leatherwood also made a separate statement to The Baptist Press calling Biden's decision "selfless."

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The column and comments, published by The Baptist Press and shared by ERLC's own social media accounts, immediately sparked backlash from some far-right factions within the conservative evangelical denomination.

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Read more: https://news.yahoo.com/news/leader-southern-baptist-conventions-public-014738004.html