Paige and Dorothy Patterson stripped the president’s home at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary upon their departure and left the 10,000-square-foot home in a state of disrepair, according to a new lawsuit filed against the seminary by former President Adam Greenway.
Last fall, Greenway asked the seminary for $5 million in compensation but did not file suit. Now, on March 20, he filed suit against the seminary and former trustee Chairman Danny Roberts, seeking unspecified compensation for defamation of character that has left him unemployable. He has demanded a jury trial to recoup “past and future economic loss including lost wages” plus attorney fees.
Adam Greenway
Greenway was forced out as president in September 2022, little more than three years after assuming the presidency of the Fort Worth, Texas, school owned by the Southern Baptist Convention. He followed Patterson, who had been fired by trustees for mishandling knowledge of sexual abuse. After Patterson’s ouster, the true state of the seminary’s ailing finances and declining enrollment became known.
Greenway was charged with reversing the dramatic downturn the seminary had experienced over two decades but was unable to do so. Both finances and enrollment continued to decline.
After Greenway was forced out, trustee leaders accused him of financial mismanagement — especially related to expenditures on the president’s home and other campus building renovations.
In the new lawsuit, Greenway says he was handed a presidential home — where he was required to live with his family — that was filled with mold and in a state of disrepair. All expenses made to repair the home were approved through the seminary’s business office and trustees, he says.
Greenway also claims his ouster was precipitated because he “voiced opinions relating to political issues that were met with disapproval by influential alumni, members of the Executive Committee of the board of trustees, administration, and faculty.”
“A behind-the-scenes initiative led to Dr. Greenway’s removal, culminating in a request for Dr. Greenway’s resignation made by the chairman of the board of trustees, Danny Roberts, at an Executive Committee meeting on September 22, 2022,” the lawsuit states.
Greenway signed a settlement agreement related to his departure on Feb. 13, 2023 — five months later.
“Within days of its execution, members of its administration and board of trustees of SWBTS breached terms of the settlement agreement by failing to issue a public statement as required under the agreement,” he claims. “Shortly thereafter, the administration of SWBTS, including Roberts, began a defamatory campaign against Dr. Greenway that included both specific false statements along with publication of a narrative that created a substantially false and defamatory impression.
“The defamation of Dr. Greenway has been widely publicized, resulting in severe damage to his reputation and rendering him unemployable in the professional capacity for which he is qualified,” the suit states.
“The defamation of Dr. Greenway has been widely publicized, resulting in severe damage to his reputation and rendering him unemployable in the professional capacity for which he is qualified.”
Throughout this ordeal, Greenway has maintained he was wrongly evicted from the presidency. He challenged trustees to release financial information he said would exonerate him. What they released in response instead appeared to damn him.
Southwestern Seminary issued the following response to the lawsuit: “It is regrettable that Adam Greenway is suing the seminary he has previously claimed to love in response to Southwestern’s refusal to agree to his demand of $5 million last fall. It is also disappointing that his lawyer turned down multiple invitations to inspect the evidence supporting the public statements previously made by the seminary. We categorically deny the allegations contained in the lawsuit, will defend vigorously the institution, and are confident the outcome will demonstrate that these claims are entirely baseless.”
The 23-page lawsuit gives specific examples of how Greenway believes he was removed for not toeing the SBC party line and how he was blamed for financial decisions approved through proper channels. But some of the most incendiary accusations include those lobbed at his predecessor and the state of the president’s home, which the Pattersons had named Pecan Manor.
“Upon his termination from SWBTS in May of 2018, the majority of furnishings and décor of the president’s home were removed by the Pattersons,” the lawsuit states. “In February 2019, when plaintiff began his tenure as president of SWBTS, the president’s home was in a state of disrepair and unfit for habitation or use. Visible mold could be seen growing on interior walls of the facility. The president’s home’s condition was known to then-Chairman Roberts, who toured the building with plaintiff on February 26, 2019. Restoration of the facility was necessary to return the president’s home to usable condition as a seminary asset in the center of campus.”
President’s home at Southwestern Seminary
The on-campus home does not function solely as a single-family residence, Greenway says. “Rather, the president’s home is designed, equipped and maintained as a multi-purpose institutional facility, equipped to host institutional functions and gatherings, including meetings, fundraising events and receptions.”
He reports that the Pattersons “employed up to 14 staff within the president’s home facility … along with a professional chef. Four offices, and up to 27 active phone lines existed within the building during President Patterson’s tenure.”
After the home was renovated and restored, Greenway eliminated full-time staff there, including the chef, he says.
That leads to his explanation of the one thing for which he has been most frequently ridiculed — an $11,000 espresso machine.
“The kitchen is equipped with commercial grade appliances, suitable for hosting gatherings beyond those typical in a single-family dwelling,” the suit explains. “As part of the renovations relating to hospitality, the president’s home was equipped with a commercial grade coffee bar at a cost of $11,123.49. The cost included an espresso machine, water filtration system, accessories and installation.”
These kitchen facilities were used by seminary staff for large-scale functions, such as receptions, attended by more than 1,000 people, he explains.
Another major expenditure at the home was replacement of the HVAC system, which was riddled with mold and mildew, Greenway says. “The risk manager for SWBTS advised that the HVAC units need to be replaced for the safety of occupants and guests.”
These were not capricious expenditures, the suit says. “The expenditures made for repair and renovation of the president’s home facility during plaintiff’s tenure were not made by plaintiff unilaterally but were made with the knowledge of the appropriate officials of SWBTS.”
Finances were not the real reason Greenway was forced out, he contends. Instead, he ran afoul of “certain members in a faction of leadership within SWBTS” that sided with Vice President for Business Administration Colby Adams against the president, the suit states.
Greenway charges that Adams had begun drawing on a $1.6 million line of credit without the president’s knowledge. As a result, Greenway removed Adams from that post.
According to previously reported sources within the seminary community, an internal war developed between Greenway and Adams, who today is senior advisor to President David Dockery.
Greenway says he wanted to fire Adams but was not allowed to do so by trustees.
Soon after, Greenway “began to have disagreements with certain members in a faction of leadership within SWBTS relating to political topics,” the suit says. On Sept. 12, 2022, Greenway posted a tweet criticizing a “Christian nationalism” conference.
He wrote: “If America really was/is a Christian nation — as my Twitter feed indicates some are claiming today — then where are the cries to repent and believe instead of just calls to register and go vote? Don’t reduce the Bible to a political prop and Jesus to a candidate consultant, please.”
Greenway says that resulted in an immediate message from Jack Graham, pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas, who “demanded plaintiff take down the tweet.” O.S. Hawkins, who is a lifelong friend of Graham’s and is a retired denominational executive, was included in the text message thread.
The lawsuit lays out Greenway’s report of how a deal was made to give him a severance via a position with the SBC International Mission Board and a “promise of mutual non-disparagement.” When news of that deal went public, IMB President Paul Chitwood was forced to reconsider.
Greenway contends seminary officials did not post the agreed-upon statement on the seminary website and instead chose to defame him. He says Chairman Roberts directed that the joint statement be “buried” and that he hoped “the day comes when people will forget there ever was an Adam Greenway presidency of SWBTS.”
In review of Greenway’s tenure, “only selected and incomplete financial records were shared” with trustees, the suit says. That has led to widespread publication of “the defamatory narrative” provided by trustee leaders.
The lawsuit takes statements made by trustees and administrators point by point to refute them, claiming each statement is “false.”
Greenway charges the seminary and Roberts “acted with actual malice, and/or a reckless disregard for the truth” and therefore exposed Greenway to “public hatred, contempt and ridicule” that has left him unemployable.
The lawsuit says Greenway currently resides in Florida.
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What happened at Southwestern and why does it matter? | Analysis by Mark Wingfield
Wait a minute: There’s yet another twist in the Southwestern story
Eight months later, there still aren’t many public details on the financial and enrollment problems that led to Greenway’s departure from Southwestern | Analysis by Mark Wingfield
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