WAKE FOREST, N.C. (ABP) — A trustee of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary resigned Oct. 11 shortly after questioning a plan to name a building for former seminary president Paige Patterson and his wife, Dorothy.
Richard Headrick, a trustee from Laurel, Miss., asked trustees to reconsider the proposal to name an academic building for the Pattersons instead of a student center as planned.
“We did that from the heart,” Headrick said of the initial plan linking the Pattersons' name to the student center, which will include a physical-fitness facility. Headrick said his heart broke when he first heard of the planned change. He said God sent Patterson to the school. “He has a legacy in our faith,” Headrick said.
Southeastern president Danny Akin said the plans changed when it was determined constructing a new academic building would be cheaper than renovating an existing one. A student center presumably will be built later.
Akin said he and Ryan Hutchinson, Southeastern's vice president for administration, flew to Texas, where Patterson is now president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, to discuss naming the academic building after the couple. He said Patterson's only request was that his wife's name be included.
Akin said the school has $3 million that can be used for the building, which will house the doctor of philosophy and doctor of ministry programs.
Trustee chairman Mark Harris said he initially wondered about naming the student center for Patterson, who he jokingly said is “not exactly mister physically fit.”
The motion to name the academic building for the Pattersons passed with no visible opposition.
As he read his resignation letter, Headrick noted he loves the school and will stay on as a member of the seminary's board of visitors. “With or without me, the seminary's in capable hands,” Headrick said.
When the trustees voted to accept Headrick's resignation, Akin raised his hand in opposition, even though he doesn't have an official vote.