TULSA, Okla. — Lonnie Latham resigned from the pastorate of South Tulsa Baptist Church, Tulsa, Okla., after being arrested Jan. 3 in Oklahoma City for “offering to engage in an act of lewdness,” according to charges published in various wire reports. In an area of the city known for male prostitution, Latham allegedly asked a male undercover police officer to go with him to a local hotel for sex. Television cameras captured him leaving the jail the next day when he stated he “was set up” and was in the area “pastoring to police.”
Latham has been pastor of South Tulsa Baptist since 2002. He also served as recording secretary for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma (BGCO) and by virtue of that office, as a member of the state convention’s 64-member executive board and as one of four members representing Oklahoma on the 82-member Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). Baptist Press learned from officials of the church, the BGCO and the SBC Executive Committee that Latham has resigned each of his positions.
Anthony Jordan, BGCO executive director-treasurer, said, “We have a dual responsibility. From the standpoint of the church and, certainly, as brothers in Christ, we are to hold Lonnie to the biblical standard of morality and to hold him accountable for his actions. Lonnie has responded to that admonition by resigning from his church, asking their forgiveness and stepping aside to seek healing.”
Latham was outspoken about social and cultural issues, including support for the state amendment to protect the traditional definition of marriage. He also supported the report by an SBC task force that churches needed to provide productive, effective and redemptive ministry to help homosexuals leave that lifestyle. The lewdness charge against Latham is a misdemeanor and carries a penalty of up to one year in jail and a $2,500 fine. No trial date has been set. (TAB)
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