“I really think Guidepost and those who are enthusiastic for what they’ve said are virtually slandering the convention,” he said in a phone interview. “I’m saying, you’ve got us wrong.”
Coppenger fears that reforms, such as a website to track abusive pastors, will open the SBC up to lawsuits from abuse survivors.
“We should address this in the local church and work with local authorities,” he said. “But don’t go overboard.”
At the end of the 2022 meeting, Martin stood outside the main meeting hall at the Anaheim Convention Center, greeting friends, shaking hands and admiring a new “Wrath of Khan”-themed gift he got from Victor Chayasirisobhon, a fellow “Star Trek” fan and California pastor who’d been elected the SBC’s first vice president.
RELATED: Rod Martin Resigns From SBC Executive Committee, Warns the SBC Is in ‘Grave Danger’
Martin urged friends and allies to stick with the convention, despite the group’s 2022 losses, saying the SBC is “better together.”
“We have some arguments we’ve got to settle,” he said. “But we need to go to New Orleans and settle them and do it with courage, with fidelity to Scripture.”
This article originally appeared here.
