The Southern Baptist Convention has voted against a proposal to abolish the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission amid criticisms over advocacy efforts and leadership.
At the SBC Annual Meeting in Dallas, Texas, messengers voted on Wednesday to reject a motion calling for the abolition of the convention’s public policy arm.
Out of 6,581 ballots cast, 3,744 voted against abolishing the ERLC, constituting 56.89% of the vote. By contrast, 2,819 voted to abolish the ERLC, representing 42.84% of the vote. Eighteen ballots were disallowed.
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Pastor Willy Rice of Calvary Baptist Church of Clearwater, Florida, introduced the motion and told the messengers before the vote that he “defended the ERLC for years, but I can’t do that anymore.”
“Many have been stunned to learn that outside progressive advocacy groups have financially supported our ERLC, and there’s been no public repentance, no rejection of those alliances,” Rice said.
“My head has to admit what my heart didn’t want to believe. Facts are stubborn things, and the evidence is clear and the trust is broken.”
Rice called on messengers “to abolish the ERLC,” saying he did not want “to erase it, but to restore it” and “reforge it into a voice unincumbered by outside interests.”
Steve Willis, senior pastor at One Church in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, defended the ERLC, highlighting its pro-life efforts, which included helping to provide sonogram machines to pro-life pregnancy care centers, including one where his wife works.
“There is no other entity that has stood for a child’s right to life more than the ERLC,” said Willis. “I encourage this body to continue the support of this vital Southern Baptist ministry and vote no on this recommendation.”
ERLC traces its roots back to 1908 and has periodically drawn criticism in recent years over its leadership and some of its advocacy. To eliminate an SBC entity, bylaws require a majority vote at two consecutive annual meetings. Motions to defund or abolish the ERLC have been raised and failed at the last three Annual Meetings.
Some within the SBC have taken issue with the ERLC’s past opposition to bills that seek to punish women seeking abortion or its ties to the Evangelical Immigration Table, an immigration and refugee advocacy coalition. Others have objected to the actions of former ERLC President Russell Moore and his condemnation of President Donald Trump.
Rice proposed a motion on Tuesday morning calling on annual meeting messengers to “vote to abolish the ERLC,” with Rice’s proposal receiving some applause from those gathered.
Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, previously expressed reservations about the ERLC’s relevance on the “Baptist21” podcast in April.
Mohler spoke of having “grave doubts about the utility of the ERLC,” though he stopped short of calling for its elimination, saying that it “would be wrong for me to lead any such effort.”
Richard D. Land, ERLC president from 1988 to 2013 and executive editor for The Christian Post, said in a piece co-published by CP that calls to abolish the ERLC were misguided.
“The answer to such disagreements related to one of our entities is greater discussion and dialogue, not eliminating the entity altogether,” wrote Land.
Others, among them Erik Reed, argued that a vote in favor of abolishing ERLC could benefit the entity by sending a message that it needed to reform how it operated.
“I don’t want the ERLC to go away. There’s important work they can and need to do,” Reed tweeted. “But a vote to abolish sends a clear message to trustees and demands change take place. They need more than furniture rearranged. They need walls ripped out and an entire remodel.”
