Palm View Baptist Church, which is affiliated with the SBC, was also featured on Founders Ministries’ list of “gospel-preaching, Christ-exalting” churches. Led by Florida SBC Pastor Tom Ascol, Founders is “committed to encouraging the recovery of the gospel and the biblical reformation of local churches.”
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Following Elwing’s arrest, his membership to the CBN was revoked, and his church was removed from Founders Ministries’ list of recommended churches.
“Pornography is wicked and a scourge on our nation. It should be outlawed at every level of our society. Child pornography is a compounded wickedness because it necessarily involves the abuse of the most vulnerable among us,” Ascol told ChurchLeaders in an email. “Those who engage in it should be punished to the full extent of the law.”
Elwing had been one of many voices in the SBC expressing suspicion toward the denomination’s sexual abuse reforms. In a February 2023 social media post, he expressed his belief that creating a database of pastors, denominational leaders, ministry employees, and volunteers who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse would “be the end of the SBC.”
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Elwing’s trial is set to begin on April 20.
