ERLC Faces Uncertain Future After Leadership Shakeup
Leadership search “critical” as Southern Baptists debate Commission’s future
The Southern Baptist Convention is weighing the future of its public policy arm, the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), after a summer of upheaval.
In June, nearly 43 percent of voting Messengers backed a motion to abolish the ERLC. The effort failed, but the close margin revealed strong doubts about whether the commission still reflects the priorities of Southern Baptists (AP News). Weeks later, President Brent Leatherwood resigned after nearly nine years with the organization. Trustees praised his “loving courage in the face of a divisive and increasingly polarizing culture in America” and named Miles Mullin, Vice President and Chief of Staff, as interim President.
Leatherwood’s tenure was marked by both achievements and controversy. The ERLC helped place ultrasound machines in crisis pregnancy centers and filed legal briefs defending life and religious liberty. But his leadership also drew criticism. In 2024, the board briefly announced his firing after he praised President Biden’s withdrawal from the reelection race as a “selfless act.” The decision was quickly reversed, but the episode deepened questions about the ERLC’s direction.
As ALPolitics.com has reported, investigations have highlighted ERLC’s ties to the Evangelical Immigration Table, a coalition indirectly linked to progressive donor networks. Critics argued those associations undercut the Commission’s credibility.
At the Dallas meeting, ten former SBC Presidents urged messengers to preserve the ERLC, warning that abolition would do long-term harm. “A sledgehammer is not the tool for adjusting a mirror,” their letter said, while crediting the commission with helping pave the way for Roe v. Wade’s reversal.
Richard Land, who led the ERLC for 25 years before retiring in 2013, also called the search for new leadership “critical.” He argued that Washington is currently “very sympathetic” to Baptist concerns, making it the wrong time to walk away from advocacy. Land praised Leatherwood’s service but said the next President should be an ordained Southern Baptist minister: “There is sort of a secret handshake” among pastors, he explained.
Still, not all Baptists believe one leader can solve the problem. Will Hall, public policy director for the Louisiana Baptist Convention, has proposed a council of state directors to guide ERLC strategy, citing Proverbs 11:14 and 24:6: “There is wisdom in the counsel of many,” The Baptist Paper reported.
For now, Mullin is tasked with stabilizing the commission while the search committee begins its work. Land urged Baptists to pray that the committee listens to the Holy Spirit. “God has already chosen the person He wants to serve,” he said. “We can frustrate God’s will if we don’t seek it.”
The ERLC’s future remains in the balance—caught between critics who see it as a distraction and supporters who believe its voice in Washington is more needed than ever.
