Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission survives SBC vote

The Southern Baptist Convention in a Wednesday afternoon vote opted to allow the controversial Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, or ERLC, to continue operating. More than 6,500 SBC messengers cast their ballots on a motion to abolish the ERLC. Of that number, roughly 3,700, or about 57%, voted to retain the commission, while only about 2,800, or 43%, voted to abolish it. Willy Rice, the pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Clearwater, Fla, presented the motion.

What’s behind the effort to abolish the ERLC? The ERLC acts as the public policy arm of the SBC, according to the commission’s website. Some in the SBC have criticized the commission for its stances on a number of social issues, including immigration and critical race theory. More recently, the ERLC was criticized for aligning with and accepting money from outside groups that don’t align with the denomination’s statement of faith and for failing to support legislation that would impose criminal penalties on mothers seeking abortions. The commission insists that pregnant women, like unborn children, are also victims of abortion and that punishing them would be counterproductive.

Supporters of the ERLC cite its decades-long history of promoting Southern Baptist Convention stances on marriage, abortion, transgenderism, and pornography.

Dig deeper: Read Lauren Canterberry’s report on the death of SBC abuse whistleblower Jennifer Lyell.