Attacks on the Southern Baptist Convention North American Mission Board are coming not from the left or center but also from the far right, as evidenced by an article published online Feb. 11.
The Center for Baptist Leadership — a relatively new organization based in the far-right culture of American conservatism and the SBC — published an article written by Jon Whitehead that warns NAMB’s legal strategy is exposing every SBC pastor to harm. Whitehead is a Missouri attorney and a former trustee of the SBC Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. Previously, Whitehead has staked out theological and political positions to the right of most “conservative resurgence” leaders in the SBC.
NAMB and its president, Kevin Ezell, have been in a seven-year legal battle with Will McRaney, former executive director of the Baptist Convention of Maryland and Delaware. SBC insiders have portrayed McRaney as crazy and unhinged as he has sought justice against his firing by the two-state convention at Ezell’s request — even though McRaney did not work for Ezell or NAMB or the SBC.
Jon Whitehead (right) with his father, Michael Whitehead outside the U.S, Supreme Court.
This is one of two pending lawsuits that “could reshape how the convention and local churches relate under the law,” Whitehead wrote. “Paradoxically, the best outcome for Southern Baptist churches is for their leaders to lose.”
The two cases are McRaney vs. NAMB and Garner vs. SBC.
In the second case, Preston Garner was a Tennessee worship pastor who in 2022 resigned from one church to accept a pastorate in another. Amid that shift, the SBC Credentials Committee sent letters to multiple Baptist bodies asking why Garner’s previous church employed him as “an individual with an alleged history of sexual abuse.”
Garner’s new church withdrew its employment offer. A Baptist-affiliated Christian school where Garner served as music director terminated him and barred him from campus.
Yet Garner denies sexually abusing anyone. He says the SBC Credentials Committee relied on an anonymous, unsubstantiated report and omitted facts showing he was not credibly accused of any wrongdoing.
Both these cases show the dangers of unchecked powers by denominational leaders, Whitehead says. And now, “if our entities get what they’re asking for, SBC leaders will win the legal protection to say false things about local church ministers with impunity.”
“If our entities get what they’re asking for, SBC leaders will win the legal protection to say false things about local church ministers with impunity.”
In both the cited cases, “SBC leaders destroyed their ministries using false statements,” he charges, and then said their actions cannot be reviewed by secular courts.
This twists the meaning of church-state separation, Whitehead says, agreeing with a more moderate to liberal understanding of separation.
“Baptists have long understood that the First Amendment bars courts from theology. No judge should be asked to determine who is a better Baptist,” he says. But there’s a difference between ‘religious questions’ and ‘religiously motivated speech.’”
For example, he writes: “You can argue that Pastor Jones administers Communion incorrectly, and no court will hear his complaint. Even if every SBC messenger sides with him and not you, the courts won’t lift a finger. But if you falsely tell people he bought a Mercedes with stolen church funds, that is not a ‘religious question.’ With that kind of lie, sincere Baptist motives are no defense. … A jury can decide whether funds were stolen, no matter whether the accused is a pastor or a surgeon.”
In both McRaney’s and Garner’s cases, “the alleged career-destroying falsehoods go beyond doctrine,” Whitehead says.
Put another way: “If a convention wants to say a minister teaches error, it may say so freely. But if it wants to say a minister is a thief or an abuser, it must be careful to tell the truth or answer for the lie, just like anyone else.
“Generations of courts have honored that line. Now, SBC entities are asking courts to erase it.”
Whitehead gives a long history lesson about Baptists and Catholics and previous court rulings and American history. Then he declares this: “If our SBC entities secure the ‘right’ to defame faithful pastors like McRaney and Garner, you and your church could be next. So, please join me in praying that the courts can see the difference between religious liberty and justice for people who are defamed.”
Related articles:
52 Baptist leaders sign amicus brief supporting McRaney
Tennessee appeals court rules against SBC in anonymous accusation of sexual abuse