Southern Baptist leader removed after controversial remarks

FORT WORTH, Texas — Prominent Southern Baptist leader Paige Patterson has been removed from his job as president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary amid an evangelical #MeToo moment: a massive backlash from women upset over comments he made in the past that are newly perceived as sexist and demeaning.

Seminary leaders were vague as to the reason for the dramatic move, issuing a statement in the wee hours Wednesday morning that didn’t mention Patterson’s controversial comments. Instead, the statement said that the seminary is moving “in the direction of new leadership” due to challenges related to “enrollment, financial, leadership and institutional identity.”

The brief statement said Patterson will be president emeritus, “for the benefit of the future mission of the Seminary.” He will receive compensation and may live on campus as “theologian-in-residence” at a brand new Baptist Heritage Center, the statement said.

After 13 hours of closed-door sessions, the seminary’s trustees appointed Jeffrey Bingham, the seminary’s dean of the school of theology, as interim president. Bingham has worked for numerous evangelical institutions, including Criswell College, Dallas Theological Seminary and Wheaton College.

The news of Patterson’s removal, announced by the board of trustees chairman, Kevin Ueckert, is likely to be met with some satisfaction by the thousands of women who had called for his ouster, said Karen Swallow Prior, an English professor at Liberty University who attends a Southern Baptist church.

“Misogyny and disrespecting women has nothing to do with scriptural teaching,” Prior said.

But some Southern Baptists voiced concerns that allowing Patterson to continue to live on campus might not send a strong enough message. Southern Baptist leaders “would be concerned about their own appreciation for Paige Patterson: his legacy, history and contribution to the Southern Baptist Convention, even to the trustees individually,” said Thabiti Anyabwile, an author and pastor in Washington, D.C. “They’re comrades, friends. The question that’s left is whether that signals any change in direction and tenor at the institution. It would be incredibly difficult for a new president to lead, with Patterson literally living on campus and over his shoulder.”

Patterson, who earlier apologized for one sermon example remarking on a teenager’s appearance but has remained largely defiant of his critics, sent an unapologetic email to seminary students and staff on Wednesday. “As for the Pattersons, we are, of course, hurt. But we did not compromise and we still have our voice to witness. That we will attempt faithfully to do,” he and his wife Dorothy wrote in the email. “What matters in all this is not the lives of a couple of old soldiers, but your bright futures for Christ. Pray for us when you thought arises, but steady your life and preparation for service to our Lord.”

Under fire

A quorum of about 30 male trustees and three female trustees of the 1,200-student Texas seminary were present for the meeting that began Tuesday afternoon to discuss the fate of Patterson, a past president of the Southern Baptist Convention who has been revered as a giant for standing guard for decades against liberalizing changes.

In recent weeks, Patterson, 75, has come under fire for taped comments he made between 2000 and 2014 about women, including those remarking on a teenage girl’s figure and saying female seminarians need to work harder to look attractive. He also said women who are abused almost always should stay with their husbands. After thousands of Southern Baptist women signed a petition calling for the seminary’s board of trustees to oust him from his position, he apologized for making comments about the teenager, but he did not apologize for his comments about abused women. The comments had resurfaced on a blog this year.

The Washington Post also reported Tuesday that Patterson allegedly told a woman who said she had been raped while a student at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., in 2003 that she should not report her allegations to the police and encouraged her to forgive her alleged assailant. Patterson was that seminary’s president at the time. The story was published as the seminary’s board was meeting. Patterson did not respond to requests for comment on the alleged incident.

‘Indiscreet’ tweeting

“The board also affirmed a motion stating evidence exists that Dr. Patterson has complied with reporting laws regarding assault and abuse,” Ueckert said in the board’s statement. It did not say more on that matter except a bullet point noting “The seminary stands against all forms of abuse.”

Ueckert also addressed the seminary’s firing of a PhD student from his $40,000-a-year job as the catering kitchen manager and the revoking of his scholarship for tweeting about the Patterson debate, telling him that he was “indiscreet” and that his decision to speak publicly about the dispute “does not exhibit conduct becoming a follower of Jesus.” Patterson had told The Washington Post that Nathan Montgomery had “a long history,” but Ueckert disputed this, saying that the board has found no evidence of misconduct in his employee file. He did not address whether the student’s job or scholarship would be reinstated.

Ueckert declined to take further questions from The Post.

Patterson has been widely revered for his role starting in the 1970s in a conservative takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation’s largest Protestant denomination claiming 15 million members. During that time, he and other leaders passed resolutions that tied Southern Baptists’ belief in the Bible’s inerrancy directly to a ban on female pastors and the teaching that women should be submissive to their husbands.

Paul Pressler, credited as Patterson’s co-founder of the “conservative resurgence,” also currently faces a lawsuit alleging he concealed inappropriate sexual conduct. The suit names Patterson and his seminary as well, saying that Patterson helped cover up the abuse; Pressler and the Southern Baptist Convention dispute the lawsuit’s claims.

Patterson was scheduled to deliver a high-profile sermon at the denomination’s annual meeting in Dallas next month, prompting concerns that allowing him to speak could send a bad signal about how Southern Baptists regard women. It was unclear whether he will still deliver the sermon.

Patterson and his wife had planned to retire on the grounds of the “Baptist Heritage Library,” which the seminary plans to open this summer and which will house Patterson’s collections. The board passed a motion that would allow the Pattersons to retire there.