Dallas | The SBC’s public policy and lobbying entity turned away another attempt to abolish it at the SBC Annual Meeting in Dallas on June 11. The vote was close, with SBC President Clint Pressley opting for a paper ballot over the usual lifted-ballot book vote.
The vote was 3,744 (56.89%) to retain the ERLC, and 2,819 (42.84%) to abolish the entity that has roots dating back more than 100 years.
Willy RIce
The pastor who brought the motion to abolish the SBC’s public policy wing used the argument that the two successive votes required to abolish an entity would give the beleaguered ERLC a year to correct its actions. But Willy Rice of Calvary Baptist Church in Clearwater, Florida said, he didn’t believe that would happen.
“For too long the ERLC has caused confusion and division for our churches,” Rice said. The voice of Southern Baptist beliefs to public officials has instead “become a conduit for the culture to speak back to us (the church).”
In his three-minute argument for giving the ELRC its notice, Rice contended, “The facts are clear…The trust is broken.”
A couple of hours prior to floor debate, ERLC President Brent Leatherwood used his entity report time to defend the current work of the ERLC. Leatherwood denied that he has become a lightning rod in the attacks on the Commission.
“It’s not about me. It’s not about those who came before me,” Leatherwood said in a video, referring to his predecessor Russell Moore. Then live from the platform he said, “We are closer to the churches now than we have ever been.” Leatherwood pointed to advances in the ERLC’s work on pro-life issues. That has been part of his campaign to reconnect with the concerns of the people in SBC churches, rather than the political issues that distanced Moore from the base.
Richard Land
Former ERLC President Richard Land rose to the ERLC’s defense. He called it “particularly tragic” to contemplate abolishing the ERLC when the entity has more opportunity with the current leadership in Washington “than in my lifetime.” He pointed to Congress members as allies who are “trying to turn back the barbarians at the gate in our culture.”
Land concluded, “This is a particularly strategic moment.”
The elder Land then moved to end debate and vote on the motion, but messengers turned back his effort to have the last word and continued debate. After arguments on both sides for about ten minutes, time expired and the ballot vote was held.
ERLC Board Chair Scott Foshie, an IBSA employee who began serving as a trustee while a pastor in Steelville, led the defense after criticism by Southern Seminary President Al Mohler sparked the latest effort to defund the ERLC.“Like every Southern Baptist church and entity, the ERLC is not perfect and has seen its share of challenging days,” Foshie said from Dallas. “But there is no question the ERLC is a work worth continuing and improving. Your trustees are thankful for your feedback and good ideas, and we want to earn your trust.”
Ten former SBC Presidents joined the defense with an open letter. While it did not endorse Leatherwood per se, the letter said in the same vein as Land, that the loss of this SBC voice in public policy discussions would be harmful.