Home Christian News Interim Leadership Led to Leatherwood’s ERLC Election

Interim Leadership Led to Leatherwood’s ERLC Election

Partnerships grew during the last year, she said. Leatherwood worked to strengthen relationships with Baptist state conventions in particular. As part of that effort, the ERLC resumed a meeting with Baptist state ethics leaders that had not been held for several years.

“[I]t is necessary in the spirit of Baptist cooperation that we would have a leader at the helm who would be a bridge builder, be a relationship builder,” Bova told the trustees.

Leatherwood joined the ERLC staff in 2017 as the entity’s director of strategic partnerships. He later became chief of staff and vice president of external affairs before accepting the acting president’s responsibilities.

He came to the commission after nearly 14 years of service in primarily the public policy and political arenas, including four years as executive director of the Tennessee Republican Party and three years as a senior legislative aide to Rep. Connie Mack IV, R-Fla., in the U.S. House of Representatives. He received a bachelor of arts in political science and government from the University of Central Florida.

Leatherwood and his wife Meredith are members of Nashville’s The Church at Avenue South, where he serves as a deacon. They have three children.

Baptist leaders at both national and state levels, as well as pastors and a state governor, commended Leatherwood in written comments provided by the ERLC. Among those:

“Brent Leatherwood strikes me as the sort of man who loves Southern Baptists – who we have been, are, and hope to become,” SBC President Bart Barber said. “Such a man as that can rise as a statesman to speak for Southern Baptists. Such a man can also come alongside Southern Baptists and gently speak to us as a brother.”

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said he could “think of no one better” than Leatherwood to be the ERLC’s next president, “leading Southern Baptists as they strive to represent Jesus through faithful and humble engagement in the public square.”

Richard Land, the ERLC’s president from 1988 to 2013 and now its president emeritus, said Leatherwood “has led wisely and courageously” during what he described as “a tumultuous and strident period in our nation and our convention. Southern Baptists and America both desperately need the information, inspiration, and guidance the ERLC can provide under Brent Leatherwood’s leadership.”

The National African American Fellowship (NAAF) of the SBC expressed its strong support for Leatherwood, said Frank Williams, NAAF’s president, and Dennis Mitcheel, its executive director. “Brent is a proven leader and trusted partner. His commitment to Gospel-centered public policy is seasoned by his sensitivity to the nuanced lived experiences of our diverse [SBC] family,” they said.

Kevin Ezell, president of the North American Mission Board, said, “As I have observed, Brent has a strong faith, knowledge of Scripture, and an unbounding love for Jesus. These are critical tenets for anyone who leads one of our Southern Baptist entities.”

Todd Gray, executive director-treasurer of the Kentucky Baptist Convention, said Leatherwood has been “a helpful partner” as acting president. “Brent’s familiarity with grass roots Southern Baptists, as well as the issues that matter most to us, will help him succeed as he leads in providing resources to help churches address the pressing cultural issues of our day as well as represent us on a national level,” he said.

In a Twitter post Tuesday, Moore said the ERLC “could not have made a better choice for president.” Leatherwood “is brilliant, godly, brave, and Christlike. He is a phenomenal leader, and I can’t wait to see what God does,” he said.

At 41, Leatherwood was elected at the same age Land and Moore were when each became president of the commission.

As acting president, Leatherwood took over for Daniel Patterson, who served in that role for three months after Moore’s departure before becoming executive pastor at Central Baptist Church in College Station, Texas.

A bio and endorsements of Leatherwood are available here.

This article originally appeared on BaptistPress.com.