After key Baptist leader applauds Biden’s withdrawal, agency retracts announcement of his firing

In under 48 hours, the head of the staunchly conservative public-policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention rankled fellow Baptists by applauding President Joe Biden’s “selfless act” of withdrawing his candidacy for re-election. Then, his agency reported he was fired — and now they have reaffirmed his leadership.

The head-spinning series of events started Sunday, but by Tuesday morning, the SBC’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission announced that no, leader Brent Leatherwood wasn’t fired. Rather, he has the full support of his top board members — though its chairman resigned amid the agency’s retraction.

On Monday, the commission issued a statement that the ERLC’s executive committee had removed Leatherwood in accordance with its bylaws.

But on Tuesday, it said, “There was not an authorized meeting, vote, or action taken by the Executive Committee. Kevin Smith has resigned as Chair of the Executive Committee.”

Leatherwood “has our support moving forward,” the executive committee statement said.

Leatherwood posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, Tuesday morning: “I deeply appreciate everyone who has reached out, especially our trustees who were absolutely bewildered at what took place yesterday and jumped in to set the record straight.”

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