Duty-bound to cooperate with probe, Baptists say

Dr. Ronnie Floyd, president and CEO of the executive committee of the Southern Baptist Convention, speaks during the executive committee plenary meeting at the denomination's annual meeting Monday, June 14, 2021, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
Dr. Ronnie Floyd, president and CEO of the executive committee of the Southern Baptist Convention, speaks during the executive committee plenary meeting at the denomination's annual meeting Monday, June 14, 2021, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

Former Northwest Arkansas megachurch pastor Ronnie Floyd, who resigned Thursday as president and chief executive officer of the Southern Baptist Convention's executive committee, warned in his resignation letter that its handling of a sweeping sex-abuse inquiry could prove costly.

But other Southern Baptist leaders, including a Jonesboro pastor, say they are duty-bound to cooperate with investigators, pointing to decisions made by the denomination's rank-and-file earlier in the year.

Critics have accused top church officials of failing to properly handle allegations of sexual abuse over the years.

After the convention declined to create a registry of ministry-related sex offenders, reporters from the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News compiled their own list of 220 church leaders they said had been convicted of sex-related offenses over the past two decades; the list of victims topped 700.

The 2019 report prompted renewed calls for reform.

In June, delegates -- known as messengers -- voted for an independent investigation into the denomination's handling of sex-abuse allegations over the past two decades.

[Ronnie Floyd's resignation letter to the SBC Executive Committee » arkansasonline.com/1016floyd/]

The resolution, debated at the convention's annual meeting in Nashville, Tenn., also called on the executive committee to waive attorney-client privilege, if investigators requested a waiver, "in order to ensure full access to information and accuracy in the review."

Floyd, while emphasizing his abhorrence of sexual abuse, opposed granting a blanket waiver, a position shared, initially, by a majority of the executive committee.

On Oct. 5, however, the executive committee changed course, agreeing to provide investigators with the privileged information they had sought.

'MULTIPLE CHALLENGES'

In his resignation letter Thursday, Floyd framed his resignation in moral terms.

"In the midst of multiple challenges facing the SBC, I was asked to come here because of my proven personal integrity, reputation, and leadership. What was desired to be leveraged for the advancement of the Gospel by those who called me here, I will not jeopardize any longer because of serving in this role," he wrote.

"As President and CEO of the SBC Executive Committee, I have fiduciary duties. The decisions made on Tuesday afternoon, October 5, in response to the 2021 Convention now place our missionary enterprise as Southern Baptists into uncertain, unknown, unprecedented and uncharted waters. Due to my personal integrity and the leadership responsibility entrusted to me, I will not and cannot any longer fulfill the duties placed upon me as the leader of the executive, fiscal, and fiduciary entity of the SBC. In the midst of deep disappointment and discouragement, we have to make this decision by our own choice and do so willingly, because there is no other decision for me to make," he continued.

In recent weeks, members of the executive board voted twice against waiving attorney-client privilege before altering course, according to Archie Mason, pastor of Central Baptist Church in Jonesboro and an executive committee member since at least 2016.

Noting that the Baptist polity is not hierarchical, Mason said he voted all three times to release the information to investigators because that's what the messengers wanted.

"We're local church-driven. We're not the Catholic church. We're not some of the Episcopal churches. We're not governed like they are. Those models are top down; we're bottom up. So when the churches say 'Do something,' we're kind of bound to do that, and if don't want to do it, then you kind of have to resign your position," Mason said.

The victimization that has occurred is deeply disturbing, he said.

"In the last year, I've had conversations with men and women who were sexually abused and it just breaks your heart," he said.

"If we've done something wrong in the past, we need to deal with it. We need to repent of it ...We need to make restitution," he said.

Despite the disagreement, he expressed fondness for Floyd.

"He has been my friend, you know. I just disagree with him regarding this. I mean, that's basically all I can say," he said.

In the resignation letter, Floyd said the executive committee "has had an unwavering commitment to doing this needed review."

"Our commitment has always been to fulfill the desires of the messengers, but the deliberations were about 'how to do this' in the most effective way," he wrote. "There was a way it could have been done that fulfilled these desires without creating these potential risks relating to the Convention's liability. Sadly, even some of our laypeople who are serving as our trustees had to submit their resignation because their profession will not permit them to serve any longer due to these risks that now exist."

Floyd, who is leaving at the end of the month, noted the criticism he and others have faced in recent days.

"One of the most grievous things for me personally has been the attacks on myself and the trustees as if we are people who only care about 'the system.' Nothing could be further from the truth," he wrote.

A convention spokesman on Friday said Floyd, pastor emeritus of Cross Church in Springdale, Rogers and Fayetteville, would not be granting interviews.

Floyd's announcement came three days after the convention's general counsel announced that it would be withdrawing, saying the executive committee's Oct. 5 vote "fundamentally changed the understanding that has always existed regarding communications between our firm and the Executive Committee or the Convention."

"There has always been an expectation of privacy in these communications," the firm wrote in a letter to Floyd that subsequently was obtained by Baptist And Reflector, a Tennessee newspaper.

Several members of the executive committee have also resigned, including Gene McPherson, a retired accountant who attends First Baptist Church in Benton and had served since 2014.

In a written statement, Southern Baptist Convention President Ed Litton portrayed Floyd's departure as regrettable.

"The last several weeks have been trying and difficult for our convention. For all those involved, particularly the trustees and senior leadership team of the Executive Committee, the struggle to determine the correct path forward concerning the investigation authorized by the Messengers has been immensely challenging. The issues before the Executive Committee were indeed complex, and it remains true that good people came to different conclusions about the various issues set before them. While I was grateful for the outcome of last week's Executive Committee meeting, I regret that Dr. Floyd and other trustees feel that this has placed them in a position where they can no longer continue to serve in their current capacities. I urge all Southern Baptists to pray for Dr. Floyd and his precious wife Jeana as they enter their next phase of life and ministry."

Rolland Slade, the chairman of the SBC Executive Committee, also lamented Floyd's departure.

"I am saddened by his resignation. He's had a tremendous ministry for years and years. I know he loves Southern Baptists. I know it was his intention to come to Nashville to serve Southern Baptists well and I believe he's fulfilled that to the best of his ability. However, I understand the vote of the committee put him in a very difficult position," Slade said in a written statement.

While a majority of the executive board voted to allow the release of otherwise privileged information to investigators, others supported Floyd's position.

"I am praying for Pastor Floyd and his wife Jeana," said Mollie Duddleston, an executive committee member and director of ministry operations at Cross Church Pinnacle Hills.

Floyd, she said, "was my pastor for almost 20 years, and equally, he and Jeana are my friends. I have deep personal respect for him."

"He accepted a very difficult assignment when he took the role of president and CEO of the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention. This task has only accelerated in challenge, particularly in recent months. I know he prayerfully considered what was best for the SBC, believing this to be the right time to resign," she said.

'MAN OF HONOR'

McPherson on Friday declined to discuss the factors that led to his resignation, but praised the outgoing executive committee president and CEO.

"Ronnie Floyd is a man of honor. I've always admired him. I just wish him and Jeana the best in their ongoing ministry and I look forward to serving with him sometime in the future," McPherson added.

The Southern Baptist Convention has been the nation's largest Protestant denominations since the 1960s, when it surpassed the Methodist Church.

Its membership peaked in 2006, reaching 16.3 million; by 2020, it had fallen to about 14.1 million.

Floyd, who pastored in Texas for 10 years before moving to Springdale in 1986, led the state's largest Baptist church for years.

In 1989, he ran for president of the Arkansas State Baptist Convention, but was beaten by the pastor of Beech Street First Baptist Church in Texarkana.

That minister, Mike Huckabee, would go on to serve as Arkansas' lieutenant governor and governor.

Despite the setback, Floyd's ministry flourished and his Northwest Arkansas church continued to grow.

His leadership drew notice not only in Arkansas but also across the country.

After losing a race for Southern Baptist Convention president in 2006, he ran again in 2014, winning the first of two one-year terms.

In April 2019, he left his Arkansas pulpit to serve as president and CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention's executive committee.

Asked Friday about Floyd's resignation, Huckabee said: "Ronnie Floyd is a man of impeccable integrity and Biblical convictions whose resignation is unfortunate as his leadership will be missed. He has had one of the most effective ministries of anyone I know and is a leader in building strong spiritual churches as well as being the premiere leader in prayer ministry in Baptist life. I love Ronnie and treasure his friendship and know that God is not finished using him."

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