Nashville, Tenn. | Evan Lenow was elected President and CEO of the SBC’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) April 13. The unanimous vote by the ERLC Board of Trustees culminates a years-long effort to secure leadership that may stabilize support for the denomination’s voice in the public square.
“We are overjoyed that he has answered God’s call to use his keen intellect and shepherd’s heart to lead the ERLC,” said IBSA Executive Director and former ERLC Chair Scott Foshie.
Lenow is a Mississippi College professor, writer, and ethicist who in the month since his nomination garnered endorsements from some of the top leaders who sought to abolish the ERLC over the past two years.
“Evan Lenow is a man of substance and conviction and long Southern Baptist pedigree who will serve well in this strategic leadership role in the SBC. Let’s pray for him,” Southern Seminary President Al Mohler posted after his nomination was announced March 30.
Mohler questioned the viability of the entity ahead of the 2025 SBC Annual Meeting. His comments were instrumental in bringing a vote to defund the ERLC. A month after the convention in Dallas, with its second vote to abolish the beleaguered entity, President Brent Leatherwood resigned.
Mohler said prior to Lenow’s election, “I look forward to serving with him in a new day for the ERLC.”
SBC Presidential candidate Willy Rice brought the motion in Dallas to abolish the ERLC because of the record of positions its presidents took in the Leatherwood and Russell Moore eras. Lenow’s nomination drew a different response.
“I congratulate Dr. Evan Lenow on his nomination to lead our ERLC and look forward to getting to know him and hear his vision. He deserves our prayers and support,” Rice said.
Rice said his opposition was intended to get the attention of the ERLC Trustees, who soon leaned into replacing Leatherwood. “It should be noted that such a hopeful moment would not be upon us if many concerned Southern Baptists hadn’t spoken out and insisted upon reform,” Rice said. “Many were labeled divisive for expressing their frustrations, but their willingness to speak has brought about this moment of change.”
The possibility of a third vote on abolishing the ERLC seems greatly reduced with Lenow’s election. The ERLC Trustees announced two measures earlier this year to give direction to the ERLC’s work—keeping it biblical and within the theological bounds of the Baptist Faith and Message (2000), and to make resourcing churches a high priority.
“May God grant us an ERLC that represents a return to a convictional, prophetic voice in the public square and a responsive, edifying voice within our convention,” Rice posted.
With the Lenow’s election at the special meeting, Foshie completed service as ERLC Trustee Chair. He led the board two years after previous chair Kevin Smith left following a controversial attempt to fire Leatherwood. Foshie facilitated board reforms that will reduce isolationist tendencies in its top leader. Foshie was especially pleased with the choice of Lenow.
“His biblically rooted ethics resources are trusted by our seminaries, and many local churches have benefited from his faithful preaching and helpful consultations,” Foshie said.
Since 2012, Lenow has served as a research fellow in Christian Ethics for the ERLC. He is the author of “Ethics as Worship: The Pursuit of Moral Discipleship” (co-authored with Mark D. Liederbach, 2021), “Biblically Sound: Embracing Doctrine for Life” (2014), and “Biblically Correct: Engaging Culture with Truth” (2013).
Lenow holds a Ph.D. in Theological Studies with a concentration in Christian Ethics from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (SEBTS), an M.Div. in Advanced Biblical Studies from SEBTS, and a bachelor’s in communication from Mississippi College.
He is married to Melanie and they have four children.
Lenow is well known among Southern Baptist leaders. Illinois native Andrew Walker, an ethicist and professor at Southern Seminary, offered his congratulations.
“Evan has a long track record of excellence and strong convictions in ethics (I assign his ethics textbook, Ethics as Worship, in my survey class),” Walker said. “Let’s all pray for his success as well as the organization’s.”
Messengers at the Orlando convention will likely hear conciliatory comments from the platform, with a report from Lenow and possibly Gary Hollingsworth, who spent much of the last year rebuilding relationships with pastors and churches in his brief tenure as ERLC interim president.
Rice described what he hopes in a new strategy for the ERLC. “I pray for an ERLC that represents Southern Baptists without apology or embarrassment and becomes a source of strength and unity,” Rice said. “We can all pray for better days ahead.”
Foshie is home again
Foshie completes eight years as an ERLC trustee that began in 2018 while he was pastor of Steeleville. He assumed the chairmanship in a tumultuous period, and now has relinquished the role to Heather Sells, former vice-chair, a journalist recently retired from the Christian Broadcasting Network.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to serve Illinois Baptists in this way. The eight years have passed quickly! I can say more confidently than ever that the ERLC is a worthy, needed ministry,” Foshie said.
“I have witnessed the trustees and staff doing yeoman’s work to listen to Southern Baptists and ensure they have a trusted, effective, ERLC serving churches and representing us in the public square. I pray that the next season of the ERLC’s ministry will be its most effective yet.”
–Eric Reed