The May 30 firing of longtime Southern Baptist leader Paige Patterson may have shocked the watching world, but it wasn’t unfamiliar territory for the outspoken denominational personality.
In late October 1991, Patterson was fired from his role as president of Criswell College. Trustees voted 14–1 to fire him, stating he was spending too much time in Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) politics and not enough time in administration and fundraising for the school.
The decision was overturned a week later, however, when a group of SBC leaders at the time, including Adrian Rogers and Charles Stanley, came to his rescue.
Unanimous vote
His recent termination from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS) in Fort Worth, Texas, likely will not garner the same result. Current SBC leaders are distancing themselves from Patterson and in some cases publicly affirming the decision.
The 12-member executive committee of SWBTS trustees convened May 30 in what an email from SWBTS called a “previously scheduled” meeting and voted unanimously to fire Patterson as the institution’s president emeritus, effective immediately.
The decision, according to a statement, was based on “new information … regarding the handling of an allegation of sexual abuse against a student during Dr. Patterson’s presidency at another institution and resulting issues connected with statements to the board of trustees that are inconsistent with SWBTS’s biblically informed core values.”
Previously, the full 40-member board voted to transition Patterson from president to president emeritus at a May 22–23 meeting that included 13 hours of executive session. As president emeritus, Patterson would have received ongoing compensation and an invitation to reside on campus as theologian in residence. Those benefits were revoked May 30.
The statement from SWBTS’s trustees did not specify what allegation or institution prompted the firing. A May 22 Washington Post report, however, claimed Patterson told a female student at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (SEBTS) in Wake Forest, North Carolina, in 2003 not to report an alleged rape to the police. Later in 2003, Patterson moved from SEBTS to SWBTS.
SWBTS spokesman Charles Patrick said via email the full trustee board was notified of the decision to terminate Patterson before it was made public. Patterson also was notified in advance of the public announcement.
The trustee executive committee, according to the seminary’s bylaws, “is authorized, between meetings of the board, to have charge of the seminary and to transact all trustee matters pertaining to the seminary which appear to demand immediate action and cannot be deferred until a regular meeting of the board.”
The trustees’ executive committee also announced May 31 that it “has reinstated” Nathan Montgomery “as an employee of SWBTS.” Montgomery is the student worker who was fired May 2 after he tweeted an article critical of Patterson that called for his retirement.
Preceding the May 30 meeting, Megan Lively of North Carolina identified herself in a May 28 tweet as the anonymous woman referenced in the Post’s May 22 article.
At press time Patterson had not released comments following his termination.
Brad Reynolds, vice president for academic affairs at Truett McConnell University in Cleveland, Georgia, wrote in a May 3 blog post: “My prediction concerning the aged reformer of the SBC is that he will … kneel to his God and pray just as he has always done.”
Patterson defended
“In the past I have personally watched him return good for malicious attacks on him. I have been in his home when he was falsely accused and attacked as president of Criswell College. I had the privilege of watching this sage kneel to his knees one evening and pray for those who were attacking him.”
Also coming to Patterson’s defense is Sharayah Colter, a SWBTS student and wife of Patterson’s former chief of staff. Colter released a 15-page document May 31 addressing, among other claims, the charge that Patterson counseled Lively not to report her alleged rape to police. Colter’s document is accompanied by alleged 2003 correspondence between Patterson and Lively.
Colter also attempted to refute claims Patterson “did not handle appropriately an alleged case of sexual assault against a SWBTS student,” addressed statements Patterson has made about domestic abuse and women’s physical appearance and claimed Patterson did not direct Montgomery’s firing. (TAB, BP)
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Southwestern Seminary cancels events
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS) in Fort Worth, Texas, has canceled planned on-campus events in conjunction with the June 12–13 Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) annual meeting in Dallas.
The Southern Baptist Conference of Associational Leaders also announced Patterson will no longer speak at its June 10–11 meeting as previously scheduled, nor will he speak at the Council of Korean Southern Baptist Churches’ June 11–13 meeting. And the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors has announced they are no longer going to hold their annual gathering in October at SWBTS.
Patterson has not said whether he will deliver the convention sermon in Dallas, a task messengers at the 2017 SBC annual meeting elected him to fulfill. However, SWBTS interim president Jeffrey Bingham and the other five SBC seminary presidents will deliver a joint seminary report on Wednesday following the convention sermon. (TAB, BP)
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EDITOR’S NOTE — Read the latest update to the Paige Patterson controversy.
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