On July 31, Brent Leatherwood tendered his resignation as president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s (SBC) Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), saying it was “time to close this chapter in my life.”
The ERLC’s board of trustees indicated in a statement on Thursday that it had accepted Leatherwood’s resignation, thanking him for “his leadership, dedication, and service to the SBC.”
“Beginning today, Vice President and Chief of Staff Miles Mullin will be leading the ERLC as acting president,” the board stated.
Leatherwood’s resignation comes just over a year after the ERLC board retracted a statement announcing that Leatherwood had been removed as president. That incident later resulted in the resignation of Executive Committee Chair Kevin Smith.
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Leatherwood served at the ERLC for nine years and was elected president in 2022 following Russell Moore’s departure in 2021. Moore left to become Christianity Today’s public theologian. Today, Moore serves as Christianity Today’s editor-in-chief.
“After nearly four years leading this institution, it is time to close this chapter of my life,” Leatherwood shared. “It has been an honor to guide this Baptist organization in a way that has honored the Lord, served the churches of our Convention, and made this fallen world a little better.”
Leatherwood said that he believes that “gratitude is at the heart of conservatism.” He explained, “That means I will always be thankful for the opportunity provided to me by our churches—for the support they have offered and the resources they have sacrificially given to this entity.”
Leatherwood praised the team at the ERLC, saying that the team has “excelled at bringing forth the principles of our faith to the public square and has diligently worked to fashion policies that reflect what our Convention has itself articulated as priorities.”
Leatherwood continued:
Whether it was leading the effort to defund Planned Parenthood, supporting concrete steps to try to bring an end to the plague of mass shootings and gun violence, placing a record number of life-saving ultrasound machines in pregnancy care clinics, or advocating for immigration reforms that both secure our nation’s borders and offer refuge for those fleeing persecution, it has been this Commission that has never wavered in serving as a light on Capitol Hill, before the courts, and in the culture.
 Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), saying it was “time to close this chapter in my life.”){kind=link}