RNS: Pastor Willy Rice Ends Candidacy for SBC Presidency
Julie Roys: Leading SBC Presidential Candidate Under Fire for Ordaining Sex Abuser in His Church
Pastors Urge Willy Rice to Drop Out of SBC Presidential Race
Both of the above references carried the story by Bob Smeitana of RNS that Pastor Willy Rice, of Calvary Church in Clearwater, Florida, who was the first announced candidate for President of the Southern Baptist Convention has had to drop his candidacy. The intensity of politics within the denomination caused a measure of close scrutiny during which it was discovered that one of the church's current deacons had what Pastor Rice called "a sexual relationship that could also be described as abusive."
The deacon involved was a former teacher and, according to the reports, had a sexual relationship with an 18 year old student when he was 27 years old and teaching in a high school in the Tampa area. Pastor Rice noted that the relationship occurred long before the individual became a member of Calvary Church, that the individual was very open about his past, not hiding the relationship and was repentant regarding what he had done. However, because the SBC is involved in an ongoing investigation into allegations of hundreds of instances of sexual abuse by Southern Baptist clergy, the convention passed a resolution last summer saying that anyone who had committed abuse should not be considered for church leadership positions.
Pastor Rice said that he was recently "confronted by someone outside of Calvary" who knew about this specific incident from the deacon's past and who questioned why he was in leadership. This approach is similar to the scrutiny that current SBC President Ed Litton was subjected to over borrowing a series of sermons, with permission, from a friend, fellow pastor and immediate past SBC President J. D. Greear. Litton's church website was scoured for other examples of "plagiarism" as a means of attacking him and attempting to force him to resign as SBC president in favor of the first vice President, who represented the faction known as Conservative Baptist Network, from which most of the criticism of Litton originated. It was not stated or confirmed that the individual who spoke with Rice about the deacon in his church was connected to CBN.
The deacon involved in the incident is also a member of Florida Governor Ron Desantis' Faith Advisory Council.
Are Secular Right Wing Political Tactics Disrupting Church Doctrine and Practice?
It appears that we have some "cancel culture" going on here. I was taught in a Baptist church, from an early age, that repentance from sin brought about a spiritual transformation that included things like "sanctification" and "justification," terms that mean that a repentant individual who believes in the divinity of Christ and his sacrifice by crucifixion and turns to God by faith receives God's grace in forgiveness. Sanctification means the soul is cleansed from sin, and justification means the individual is restored to God's presence.
Apparently, Calvary Church of Clearwater believed that to be the case, and so did Pastor Rice, up until "someone" pointed out that, against the backdrop of current denominational politics, this doesn't look good. They ordained the individual as a deacon, the qualifications for which can be found in the New Testament, in I Timothy chapter 3. But now that their pastor is running for the convention presidency, a position that carries with it the power to appoint powerful committee members, there's been some second guessing and a change of mind. Had the pastor not announced his candidacy, would this even be an issue?
There's a faction within the denomination, known as the "Conservative Baptist Network," that is aiming at controlling the convention, and the appointive power of the president is the pathway toward that control. There's some indication in the article from Christian Headlines that the attention of the church, which was drawn to this issue by "someone outside of Calvary," may have come from someone inside CBN. That's a similar tactic they've used to attack current SBC President Ed Litton, whom they accused of "plagiarism" for borrowing--with permission--a series of sermons from his friend and former SBC President J. D. Greear.
The Southern Baptist Convention is also dealing with a clergy sex abuse scandal, exposed a few years ago by The Houston Chronicle, that is of similar scope and consequence to that of the Catholic Church's clergy abuse scandal. That's what prompted the SBC resolution cited by Pastor Rice, encouraging churches to avoid putting former sex abusers in leadership positions. That has put some conservatives on edge, because several of their leaders have been involved in some cover-ups and in badgering and psychologically berating victims who reported abuse to them when they were in positions of authority in the denomination's educational institutions and mission boards.
Right Wing Political Implications
As previously mentioned, the deacon involved is a member of Florida Governor Ron Desantis' "Faith Advisory Council." We'll see how that gets handled by the governor, and whether the media finds out about it. The Conservative Baptist Network is quite comfortable with conservative politicians like Desantis, and if this doesn't look good for a church, it's not going to look good for him, either, especially if the guy doesn't get invited to leave the advisory council.
Southern Baptists are considered the largest denomination within what is known as the Evangelical branch of the American Christian community. Many prominent Southern Baptists have openly endorsed and embraced the former President, excusing or outright dismissing his open debauchery, including his bragging about being able to sexually abuse women, his multiple affairs on his three wives and his operation of sexually oriented businesses, at least two of which he still owns and are active.
Evangelicals have embraced him as one of their own, in spite of his never having claimed any kind of "repentance" or confessed any kind of Christian faith. So the words of the Apostle Paul in I Corinthians 5:11 apply to them, "Do not even eat with such a one," much less endorse and support someone like that to be President of the United States.
A Clear Shift in the Church's Doctrine and Faith Practice That is Politically Motivated
The deacon in Calvary church was doing what he was taught to do as a Christian, and a member of the church. He expressed remorse, regret and repentance from this incident of sexual immorality from his past. I haven't seen anything regarding what he did for the victim in this case, but he was not charged with a crime, and he apparently paid a steep price for his very poor choice. He was open about his past with the church leadership and they accepted his sincerity, believed in his spiritual life and ordained him to serve as a deacon in the church.
Now, because of the pressure placed on his pastor, who was the one seeking the high profile office, and the fact that digging up dirt to smear candidates for the Southern Baptist presidency that don't identify with the CBN is now the M.O. of denominational politics, he is subject to the church's "change of mind" as they retract their unconditional forgiveness and their doctrinal convictions to do damage control. How can you trust a church, and a pastor, that changes their mind because of circumstances, rather than consistently applying what they claim to be an inerrant, written "word of God."
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