Illinois leaders are expressing sadness and urging prayer after the Oct. 14 resignation by Ronnie Floyd from his post as President and CEO of the SBC Executive Committee (EC). Floyd’s Thursday night announcement came in the form of a letter released to SBC leaders and media. It followed a decision by the 86-seat committee Floyd headed to waive attorney-client privilege as recommended by a third-party firm hired to investigate how the EC leadership handled claims of sex abuse in the denomination.
“Our prayers for the SBC Executive Committee continue during these challenging and important days, and also for Dr. Floyd and his family as they now pursue a new direction,” said Nate Adams, Executive Director of the Illinois Baptist State Association.
Midwestern Seminary President Jason Allen characterized this as a “season of tumult” in the SBC in a tweet Thursday night. He urged “prayer and hopefulness, not snark or despair.”
Floyd had advocated following the recommendation of the EC’s own attorneys to retain the EC’s attorney-client privilege in the investigation, instead releasing information piece-by-piece after the investigation is completed. He and the EC attorneys said that would preserve the EC’s fiduciary responsibility for the SBC, and possibly avoid further costly lawsuits later.
Advocates of relinquishing attorney-client privilege, spearheaded the Sex Abuse Task Force ordered by messengers and appointed by incoming SBC President Ed Litton in July, said that would open the investigation to greater transparency in keeping with instructions by the messengers at the June SBC Annual Meeting.
The law firm that has represented the EC since 1966, Guenther, Jordon, and Price, resigned after the vote, saying they could not serve without attorney-client privilege. The firm had recommended against relinquishing privilege. And eight members of the EC have resigned since the Sept. 13-14 board meeting.
Illinois views
Both Illinois representatives were in the three tense and prolonged meetings where multiple alternatives were argued. Sharon Carty of Carlinville voted to retain attorney-client privilege in the first two meetings, but voted to relinquish in the third meeting, while Adron Robinson of Country Club Hills voted to relinquish it. Robinson was among 12 EC members who signed a statement after the first meeting expressing regret that the EC had moved at that time to retain attorney-client privilege.
Now, after Floyd’s resignation, their estimations of the situation are similar. “I’m saddened, but I understand why he resigned,” said Robinson.
“I am very, very broken over this right now,” Carty said. “I think Dr. Floyd is a great man and I’m sadden that he has resigned, but now we must move forward with God’s plans. We need to get back on track and get back to the Great Commission.”
Robinson served on the search team that presented Floyd to the EC for approval in April 2019. Floyd was elected by 68 of 69 voting members at the time. “I had faith in his ability to lead the Committee in this next season of its life, and to see it go so badly is disheartening,” Robinson said. But Robinson says he understands why Floyd thought his leadership of the EC was untenable.
“The messengers stated clearly what they wanted as far as the investigation and the waiving of privilege,” Robinson said. “I believe it should have been the EC’s job from the very first meeting to figure out how to do what the messengers wanted.”
As incoming CEO, Floyd stepped into a difficult situation. The third-party investigation into the EC’s handling of sex abuse claims in SBC churches concerns the way EC leaders responded, particularly to the needs of sex abuse victims, and in its fractious interactions with the SBC’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission President Russell Moore.
Broadly speaking, former ERLC head Moore’s stances favored care for victims while Floyd’s responses were characterized more as concern for the denomination.
Floyd was called a year after more than 700 abuse claims were first made public. The Houston Chronicle reported 380 SBC church staff were either convicted or credibly accused perpetrators whose actions were not disclosed by the churches where the violation occurred or in some cases, by churches that knowingly hired them after such accusations.
In the period between the resignation of Frank Page as President of the EC (due to an inappropriate relationship) and the calling of Floyd, SBC President J.D. Greear led the convention to adopt a strong response to claims of sexual abuse, with considerable input from Moore and the ERLC. Then Floyd joined the mix.
Victims versus institution is one framework for the ongoing debate over this matter in the SBC, especially on various advocacy blogs and on Twitter. For Carty, both issues are important.
“We need to help the people who have been abused,” Carty said, likening caring for survivors to passages in the Bible instructing Christians to care for widows, orphans, and those in need. “We are failing to realize what we’re supposed to be doing and who we’re supposed to be doing it for.”
Neither Illinois representative expressed any desire to leave the EC, despite the troubled waters. “I feel God has called me to this position and he’s given me a job to do, to represent Illinois Baptists.” Carty said. “I will do it to the best of my ability. We have got to get back to what we’re supposed to be doing,” referring to missions and evangelism.
Next steps
Floyd said his resignation, tendered nine days after the committee’s final 44-31 vote on Oct. 5, was delayed by his mother-in-law’s death and funeral.
EC Chair Rolland Slade told Baptist Press, “I am saddened by his resignation. He’s had a tremendous ministry for years and years. I know he loves Southern Baptists. I know it was his intention to come to Nashville to serve Southern Baptists well and I believe he’s fulfilled that to the best of his ability. However, I understand the vote of the committee put him in a very difficult position.”
Slade was present in Floyd’s calling. Now the process begins again. “We are not going to rush into anything. Going forward, we have to make sure we’re fulfilling the bylaws. It’s going to be difficult because we’ve lost our general counsel who we would typically turn to for guidance,” Slade said.
“For the remaining officers it is imperative that they lead and lead well,” Robinson said. He expressed support for Slade’s leadership in the three tense meetings. Slade was noted for allowing broad discussion, although at the end of one session he admonished committee members to more respectful treatment of opposing views and those who held them.
Developing consensus on a divided panel will be vital, Robinson said, “and to form a search committee that reflects the various views of the EC, and to lead us to find the best leader going forward.”
SBC President Ed Litton said, “The issues before the Executive Committee were indeed complex, and it remains true that good people came to different conclusions about the various issues set before them. While I was grateful for the outcome of last week’s Executive Committee meeting, I regret that Dr. Floyd and other trustees feel that this has placed them in a position where they can no longer continue to serve in their current capacities.
“I urge all Southern Baptists to pray for Dr. Floyd and his precious wife, Jeana, as they enter their next phase of life and ministry,” Litton said.
Next steps in the process: a seven-member search committee will be formed to begin the search for a new president. And the entire EC will likely be notified of a special-called meeting prior to its regularly scheduled spring meeting in Nashville.
Meanwhile, daily operations of the Executive Committee, which oversees distribution of Cooperative Program funds to the SBC entities including two mission boards, six seminaries, the ERLC, and the operation of Baptist Press, will continue with career employees.
–Eric Reed and Lisa Misner
Additional reports from other media:
BP: Floyd resigns as leader of the SBC Executive Committee
TBP: Floyd on resignation from SBC Executive Committee: ‘No other decision for me to make’
CT: Ronnie Floyd resigns from SBC Executive Committee
RNS: Ronnie Floyd, SBC Executive Committee chief, resigns, citing damage to his reputation
WP: Southern Baptist leader Ronnie Floyd resigns after internal fight over sex abuse investigation