SBC pastor introduces movement to abolish ERLC
A movement to abolish the Ethics & Non secular Liberty Fee was launched on the SBC Annual Assembly in Dallas, Texas, amid debate over the way forward for the conference’s coverage arm.
Pastor Willy Rice of Calvary Baptist Church of Clearwater, Florida, proposed a movement on Tuesday morning calling on SBC messengers to “vote to abolish the ERLC.”
The movement obtained the mandatory second from one of many different messengers, with Rice’s proposal receiving some applause from these gathered after he gave his proposal.
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For the SBC to remove one in all its entities, bylaws require a majority vote at two consecutive annual conferences. If Rice’s movement passes this 12 months, it should nonetheless be accepted once more subsequent 12 months.
Motions to defund or abolish the ERLC have been raised on the final three Annual Conferences, however none have been profitable. Final 12 months’s try garnered assist from over 30% of messengers.
William Wolfe, government director of the Middle for Baptist Management and a critic of the ERLC, took to his X account to state that the “vote to abolish the ERLC just isn’t a cudgel, it is a clock.”
“It provides the ERLC one 12 months to make main modifications — and are available again in Orlando making a case for a way they’ve labored to hearken to messengers, deal with points, and make actual modifications,” he tweeted. “That is the trail to reform.”
Comparable ideas had been issued by Tom Buck, senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Lindale, Texas, who wrote that such a vote “is not a dangerous overreaction.”
“It places ERLC on discover that we’re severe about wanting reform,” Buck wrote. “ERLC may have a 12 months to make actual course correction. It requires one other vote subsequent 12 months to really abolish.”
The general public coverage arm of the SBC traces its roots again to 1908 and has drawn criticism lately over its management and a few of its advocacy positions.
Some inside the SBC have taken difficulty with the ERLC’s previous opposition to payments that search to punish ladies looking for abortion or its ties to the Evangelical Immigration Desk, an immigration and refugee resettlement advocacy coalition. Others have objected to the actions of former ERLC President Russell Moore and his condemnation of President Donald Trump.
“What’s the ERLC doing to restore belief with member church buildings within the SBC? And what are you able to say to those that have voiced opposition to the ERLC?” wrote David Schrock, pastor for preaching and theology at Occoquan Bible Church in Woodbridge, Virginia, in an article for Christ Over All.
“In mild of the latest name for abolition and the questions on management on the ERLC, what do Southern Baptists must know in regards to the ERLC? What’s the greatest model of the ERLC going ahead?”
Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, expressed reservations in regards to the ERLC’s relevance on an episode of the “Baptist21” podcast again in April.
Mohler referenced “grave doubts in regards to the utility of the ERLC,” although he stopped wanting calling for its abolition, saying it “could be improper for me to steer any such effort.”
Final month, 10 former SBC presidents signed an open letter declaring their assist for the ERLC, spotlighting its socially conservative political advocacy.
“For many years, the ERLC has steadfastly defended our Southern Baptist dedication to non secular liberty. They solid a path ahead combating abortion, serving to pave the way in which to see Roe v. Wade overturned and now Deliberate Parenthood defunded,” learn the letter, partly.
“They’re persevering with to battle transgender ideology and pornography and to advertise biblical values relating to marriage, household, and sexuality. All Southern Baptists owe a debt of gratitude to the historic work of the ERLC.”
Whereas noting that ERLC and different SBC entities “must be open to critique and dedicated to enchancment,” the previous presidents added, “there’s a distinction between refinement and eradication.”
“A sledgehammer just isn’t the instrument for adjusting a mirror,” they continued. “As an alternative of dismantling the ERLC, allow us to decide to stewarding it correctly. Allow us to interact as trustees, as messengers, and as cooperative companions — at all times for the sake of the gospel and by no means for the sake of division.”
Richard D. Land, who served as ERLC president from 1988 to 2013, believes the ERLC’s position is crucial for serving to Southern Baptists interpret ethical and coverage challenges by a biblical lens. In a piece co-published by The Christian Put up, Land mentioned calls to abolish the ERLC had been misguided.
“The reply to such disagreements associated to one in all our entities is bigger dialogue and dialogue, not eliminating the entity altogether,” wrote Land, who additionally serves as the manager editor of CP and is president emeritus of the ERLC.
