An open letter released today (May 22) urges messengers planning to attend the upcoming Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) annual meeting in Dallas to vote to keep the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) as an entity of the SBC should the anticipated motion to abolish it be proposed.

Ten former SBC presidents signed the letter that also notes concerns related to ERLC and acknowledges that “every entity — including the ERLC — should be open to critique and committed to improvement. … We do not write to defend the status quo.”

Still, “there is a difference between refinement and eradication. A sledgehammer is not the tool for adjusting a mirror,” the former presidents state in the letter.

Read the full letter below.

Dear Southern Baptist Family,

Southern Baptists are a deliberative people. The Southern Baptist Convention is a deliberative body. When we do our best to explain ourselves completely, to listen to one another prayerfully, and to raise our ballots conscientiously, we believe that the Holy Spirit works through the hearts and voices of his people to lead us into God’s will. It worked throughout the Conservative Resurgence. It still works today.

We have read and listened as fellow Southern Baptists have advocated for abolishing the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC). We have prayerfully considered their case. We have tried to consider the case in its clearest and most convincing forms as articulated by what we believe to be the most sincere and godly voices among its proponents. The case for keeping the ERLC, it seems to us, also deserves to be articulated in its clearest and most convincing form, so that these two ideas may meet one another on the floor of the annual meeting and so that God may give us clarity.

Our opinions about the past decade of work at the ERLC are as diverse as those of the broader body of Southern Baptists. Some of us have been enthusiastic supporters of the ERLC. Some of us have been vocal critics. However, we remain unconvinced by the case for discontinuing the ERLC.  And just as our diverse coalition can find unity in opposing the abolishment of the ERLC, we hope that the messenger body can unify to oppose any such motion, too.

For decades, the ERLC has steadfastly defended our Southern Baptist commitment to religious liberty. They forged a path forward fighting abortion, helping pave the way to see Roe v. Wade overturned and now Planned Parenthood defunded. They are continuing to battle transgender ideology and pornography and to promote biblical values regarding marriage, family, and sexuality. All Southern Baptists owe a debt of gratitude to the historical work of the ERLC.

Those of us who would have some measure of critique for the priorities or tactics of the ERLC still believe in the importance of its existence and in its mission. If this were not the case, we would not have such strong feelings about wanting it to get its mission right. Those of us who are more supportive of the ERLC as it currently stands also believe in the importance and mission of the ERLC. From these two different perspectives, we agree that the ERLC has an important mission and should be kept in place to pursue that mission.

We believe that our system of convention governance and trustee governance is sufficient to lead the ERLC forward. Time after time, we have seen Southern Baptists manage successfully the controversial matters that come before us. We who have signed this letter may find ourselves canceling out one another’s votes on other ERLC-related questions that we face in the future, but we are willing to cooperate with one another to keep it in place and so we can fight for that future.

Southern Baptists have never been a people who govern by ultimatum. The Conservative Resurgence did not happen through threats of dissolution but through patient, prayerful trustee reform over time. Motions to abolish entire entities are not symbolic gestures. They are governing actions, and we should treat them with the sobriety they deserve. If the goal is reform, then we urge Southern Baptists to use the means already available — electing presidents, speaking with trustees, and working through the process in good faith.

We do not write to defend the status quo. Every entity — including the ERLC — should be open to critique and committed to improvement. But there is a difference between refinement and eradication. A sledgehammer is not the tool for adjusting a mirror.

Instead of dismantling the ERLC, let us commit to stewarding it wisely. Let us engage as trustees, as messengers, and as cooperative partners—always for the sake of the gospel and never for the sake of division.

We ask you to pray. To listen. And if a motion arises to disband the ERLC, we ask you to vote with confidence that Southern Baptists still have a role to play in the public square, and that the ERLC can help us do it faithfully.

Sincerely,

Bart Barber
SBC President, 2022–2024

Ed Litton
SBC President, 2021–2022

JD Greear
SBC President, 2018–2021

Steve Gaines
SBC President, 2016–2018

Fred Luter
SBC President, 2012–2014

Bryant Wright
SBC President, 2010–2012

James Merritt
SBC President, 2000–2002

Tom Elliff
SBC President, 1996–1998

Jim Henry
SBC President, 1994–1996

Jimmy Draper
SBC President, 1982–1984