Smith, who has served on the ERLC board since 2018, was elected chair last fall. Smith, a pastor at Family Church in West Palm Beach, Florida, did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Had his firing held up, Leatherwood would have been the fifth ERLC leader in a row to leave office amid controversy. From 1960 to 1987, Foy Valentine led what was then known as the Christian Life ...

Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and himself a former candidate for SBC president, expressed reservations about the ERLC’s relevance on the April 30 episode of ...

Russell Moore, a former ERLC president who is now editor-in-chief at Christianity Today magazine, said he was stunned by the news of Leatherwood’s firing. “Brent Leatherwood is a good man and ...

But, they said, that’s no reason to shut the ERLC down. “Every entity — including the ERLC — should be open to critique and committed to improvement,” the presidents wrote.

Russell Moore was just doing his job, according to his agency’s governing board. But the president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) still offered his second attempt at an ...

Delegates, called messengers, at the 2025 SBC annual meeting in Dallas on June 10-11 are expected to consider potentially several measures intended to dismantle or reshape the ERLC.

Ten former SBC presidents signed a May 22 letter defending the work of the ERLC, saying it "steadfastly defended our Southern Baptist commitment to religious liberty." The letter — signed by ...

Russell Moore then led the ERLC from 2013 to 2021, before stepping down to join Christianity Today magazine. Moore’s last few years in office were filled with controversy, primarily due to his ...

Russell Moore, a former ERLC president who is now editor-in-chief at Christianity Today magazine, said he was stunned by the news of Leatherwood’s firing. “Brent Leatherwood is a good man and ...