By Bob Allen
A Kentucky Baptist child care agency has hired a replacement for a CEO who resigned in December 2013 amid controversy prompted when he suggested a policy change to allow the hiring of gays.
Directors of Sunrise Children’s Services voted unanimously July 31 to elect Dale Suttles, a 54-year-old veteran nonprofit leader, as president. Suttles, who lives in Danville, Ky., had been serving as interim president since the resignation of former President Bill Smithwick following a vote of no-confidence by the Kentucky Baptist Convention in November 2013.
Suttles worked for the agency formerly known as Kentucky Baptist Homes for Children as senior regional advancement director in southeastern Kentucky for two-and-a-half years prior to the interim. Before that he worked at Big Brothers/Big Sisters of the Bluegrass, including two-and-a-half years as executive director.
“I am thankful that the Lord has raised up a man of courage and conviction in Dale Suttles,” Paul Chitwood, executive director of the Kentucky Baptist Convention and ex-officio member of the Sunrise board, said in a news release. “God has given Dale the skill set to take advantage of this opportunity.”
Suttles, married and the father of two, is a member of Immanuel Baptist Church in Lexington, Ky.
His predecessor held the post 16 years, a majority of his tenure punctuated by a long-running legal battle over the firing of a lesbian worker in 1998. Smithwick long defended the agency’s ban on hiring gays but early in 2013 told his board of trustees that given rapid changes in the law and public opinion, the policy could put the agency at risk of losing $23 million a year in state contracts.
Messengers at the 2013 KBC annual meeting Nov. 12 in Paducah responded with a symbolic vote of no confidence in Smithwick’s leadership, setting up a potential conflict over whether the agency was surrendering its Baptist identity.
Smithwick stepped down a month later, saying he didn’t want debate over his leadership to hurt fundraising from private donors.
“I am committed to continuing our vital partnership with Kentucky Baptists and the Kentucky Baptist Convention,” Suttles said in the press release. “Churches, businesses and corporations across this state help Sunrise give kids a path of life that guarantees their futures.”
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