It’s been almost seven weeks since the staff and board of the SBC’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission experienced a 24-hour “destabilizing … flurry of activity” that played out online through press releases, news articles and social media posts.
Reports spread the evening of July 22 that ERLC president Brent Leatherwood had been terminated but by the next morning the script was flipped and the full explanation came later in the day.
ERLC’s board of directors met July 23 in a special-called meeting via Zoom to get a handle on the confusion created by then-board chair Kevin L. Smith of Florida, who apologized for his misstep and resigned from the board effective immediately. To read more of the background, click here.
ERLC meets this week
Tony L. Beam of South Carolina, who previously served as vice chair, is currently serving as interim chair and will lead the in-person, regularly scheduled board meeting that begins tomorrow morning (Sept. 10) at 9 a.m. in Nashville and goes through mid-day the following day (Sept. 11).
Details of the topics planned for the meeting’s agenda had not been released publicly as of Sept. 8, but it is likely the July debacle will be discussed in some form and a new vice chair will be elected. The vacancy left by Smith will be officially filled next June when messengers to the 2025 SBC Annual Meeting vote on the next set of nominees to serve on the ERLC board, but the board has the option to put someone in the slot temporarily (until next June).
ERLC board of trustees
Current ERLC trustees listed in alphabetical order with the year their term ends are:
Cindy Asmussen, Texas, 2027
Tony L. Beam (chair), South Carolina, 2025
Eric Costanzo, Oklahoma, 2027
Anthony J. Cox, Arizona, 2028
Janeé England, Nevada, 2025
Scott Foshie, Illinois, 2026
Joseph N. Giles Jr., West Virginia, 2028
Joseph C. (Joe) Godfrey, Alabama, 2025
Lennox A. Graham, Maryland (Baptist Convention of Maryland-Delaware-DC), 2028
Greg G. Greer, Kansas (Kansas-Nebraska Convention of Southern Baptists), 2026
Traci D. Griggs, North Carolina, 2027
Matthew A. Grove, Tennessee, 2027
Todd Howard, Arkansas, 2025
Thomas Kakadelis, North Carolina (at-large member), 2028
Mitchell W. Kimbrell, Vermont (Baptist Convention of New England), 2027
Michael O. Lerma, Washington (Northwest Convention), 2028
Nathan W. Lugbill, Indiana, 2027
Jason M. Marlin, Missouri, 2027
Jaime F. Masso, Kentucky, 2026
Matthew T. Morgan, Mississippi, 2026
George Kevin Norwood, New Mexico, 2028
Stanley H. Oschman, Pennsylvania (Baptist Resource Network of Pennsylvania–South Jersey), 2027
Jimmy D. Patterson, Georgia, 2025
Amy Pettway, Florida, 2025
Hannah Hunter Pounds, Louisiana, 2028
David E. Prince, Kentucky (at-large member), 2026
Heather Sells, Virginia, 2026
Bryce A. Ulrich, Colorado, 2025
Jonathan R. Whitehead, Missouri (at-large member), 2025
A.B. Vines, California, 2025
Paul Yoo, New York, 2026
Sarah M. Young, Ohio, 2027
