Home Christian News SBC Sources: Paige Patterson Made ‘Black Girl’ Comments Cited in Russell Moore...

SBC Sources: Paige Patterson Made ‘Black Girl’ Comments Cited in Russell Moore Letter

Patterson was also critical of the Rev. Fred Luter, the SBC’s first Black pastor, fearing that Luter did not understand the importance of the convention’s theology. Patterson wanted to only appoint leaders who supported the conservative resurgence’s ideals.

“The difficulty is that among many of the ethnic groups there are not so many of them who understand the issues involved and the seriousness of them,” Patterson wrote in a letter to Jimmy Draper, a former SBC president.

Southwestern has accused Patterson of taking a confidential donor list, financial records and other documents with him when he was fired and then using that list to raise money for his nonprofit. The seminary also claims in an official report, published in advance of the upcoming SBC annual meeting, that Patterson convinced a donor to retract a $5 million donation to the seminary and that Patterson and his wife “improperly” removed items from the president’s home at the seminary.

Patterson has denied using the donor list and told Baptist Press, the official news service of the denomination, that the couple only took items from the school that belonged to them. He also told Baptist Press he has been involved with the Conservative Baptist Network, a group of pastors and churches that feel the SBC is too liberal.

Moore, who resigned in May to become a public theologian for Christianity Today magazine, detailed years of threats and pressure from other Southern Baptist leaders in the letter originally written in 2020 and published by RNS this week.

That pressure included a pair of investigations that reported to the convention’s Executive Committee. One of those investigations was spearheaded by the Rev. Mike Stone, a Georgia pastor and Moore critic who is one of the leaders of the Conservative Baptist Network. Stone is now one of the leading candidates for president of the Southern Baptist Convention, which will be decided during the annual meeting in Nashville, Tennessee, June 15-16. The event is expected to be the most attended SBC annual meeting in 25 years, with more than 13,000 pre-registrants.

This story has been updated with comments from Patterson. 

This article originally appeared here