The president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), Brent Leatherwood, suddenly lost his job Monday in a historic and unprecedented move by trustee leadership.
A temporary statement from ERLC gave no reasoning for Leatherwood’s termination, which got here a day after he issued remarks applauding president Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race.
Leatherwood had been on staff with ERLC—the general public policy and advocacy arm for Southern Baptists—for the past seven years and president of the entity since 2021. Just just a few hours before his termination was announced Monday evening, Leatherwood was still working and sharing ERLC resources on social media.
An increasingly vocal minority of Southern Baptists have called for the defunding of the ERLC yr after yr. Some of their ire was directed at Leatherwood, his unwillingness to endorse an abolitionist pro-life stance that might criminalize moms who abort, and his calls for gun reform after his children survived the 2023 shooting at Covenant School in Nashville.
Yet Leatherwood also had a fame as an efficient and revered leader for Southern Baptists in Washington, DC. At an ERLC luncheon last month, former vice chairman Mike Pence had recognized Leatherwood particularly, saying it was only along with his advocacy and partnership that the previous Trump administration was in a position to advance certain pro-life and non secular liberty measures.
In a temporary statement issued Monday evening in a press release and in Baptist Press, the SBC’s news service, the ERLC said Leatherwood had been removed by the manager committee of the board of trustees, “in accordance with our bylaws.” The statement said further details and transition plans wouldn’t be shared until their board meeting in September.
The ERLC bylaws allow its executive committee to “remove any officer of the Commission (including, without limitation, the President/Chief Executive Officer) with no Full Trustee Vote.”
The last time—and only time in recent memory—that an SBC entity president was fired by trustees was in 2018, when Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s board ousted Paige Patterson after a 13-hour-long meeting.
The ERLC statement was unsigned, and the ERLC didn’t reply to CT’s request for the names of the members of its executive committee who were tasked with voting on Leatherwood’s dismissal.
Monday’s news surprised Southern Baptists, including members of the ERLC’s larger board of trustees.
“I’m so sad to see this development. Please pray for Brent and the Leatherwood family,” tweeted Philip Bethancourt, a Texas pastor who previously served as an ERLC vice chairman. “I think that the @ERLC still has a pivotal role to play within the midst of this hostile cultural moment.”
The Center for Baptist Leadership—a latest, conservative group calling for “institutional revitalization inside the SBC”—backed the choice to remove Leatherwood, criticizing the ERLC and calling out Leatherwood’s recent comments on Biden.
Leatherwood was quoted in Baptist Press as saying, “Despite what some partisans will say, to walk away from power is a selfless act—the type that has change into all too rare in our culture.” He also wrote an article for the publication calling it “an astonishing moment for American history.”
The center’s statement also called for ERLC trustees to share their reasoning in September: “This is a possibility for them to decide on accountability and transparency over obstruction and spin as they reveal the explanations for removing Leatherwood. The ERLC needs higher leadership. Southern Baptists should each demand and expect this.”
Leatherwood succeeded Russell Moore, who led the ERLC until his resignation in 2021. Moore also faced backlash for his advocacy and messaging, particularly around Donald Trump. Moore now serves as editor in chief of Christianity Today.
