“In February 2019, when Plaintiff began his tenure as President of SWBTS, the President’s Home was in a state of disrepair and unfit for habitation or use,” according to the complaint.
Greenway’s attorney declined a request for photos or other evidence of the condition of Pecan Manor. A spokesman for Southwestern declined to comment about the condition of the presidential home.
The trustee report about Southwestern’s finances did not address the condition of Pecan Manor and did not make it clear that the school owns the building, not Greenway. The trustees also claimed a task force looking into the school’s finances criticized Greenway’s management of the school’s resources.
“The task force concluded that Adam Greenway engaged in a pattern of spending that the task force believes did not reflect proper stewardship of seminary resources,” the board said in 2023. “This pattern of spending occurred without deference to financial controls and seminary financial policies.”
Southwestern’s trustees have not released the full task force report. Greenway’s lawyers say releasing incomplete details from that report damaged their client.
“The statements made by Defendants created a false and defamatory impression that Plaintiff, in secret, spent seminary funds for his own benefit in a manner akin to embezzlement,” the complaint alleges.
In February 2023, the school and Greenway signed a confidential settlement aimed at ending the conflict between the two parties. The school agreed to pay Greenway $229,500, to repost his sermons as president online and to return books and his missing recliner (if it could be found).
Adam Greenway addresses the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex on June 12, 2019, in Birmingham, Alabama. RNS photo by Butch Dill
Greenway promised to return files from his time as president and gave up any future rights to legal action against the school. Leaders at Southwestern also gave up future rights to sue. Each side agreed not to make any “false and disparaging” statements about the other. They also agreed to issue a statement saying their disagreement was settled amicably.
The complaint alleges that the statement was never issued publicly nor posted on the school’s website. A copy was reportedly sent to Baptist Press, an official publication of the SBC — but neither side responded to a request with follow-up questions.
“BP editors chose not to publish the statement or a story about it without context or comments,” Brandon Porter, an associate vice president for convention news, said in a story about the lawsuit.
Lawyers for Greenway say Southwestern and its leaders violated the separation agreement — which was included in the court filings along with the complaint — by making what they argue are a series of false statements about the school’s former president.
A spokesman for the seminary said the school has not yet been served with the complaint.
“It is regrettable that Adam Greenway is suing the seminary he has previously claimed to love in response to Southwestern’s refusal to agree to his demand of $5 million last fall,” the statement reads. “It is also disappointing that his lawyer turned down multiple invitations to inspect the evidence supporting the public statements previously made by the seminary.”
This article originally appeared here.
