SBC ethics committee names new candidate for president

A search committee within the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, or ERLC, on Monday announced Evan Lenow was its candidate for the group’s next president. The ERLC is the public policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention. The ERLC’s full board of trustees is scheduled to vote in April on whether to accept Lenow as president, according to the group.

Lenow has served as a research fellow with the ERLC since 2012, specializing in Christian ethics. He currently works as director of the Institute for Christian Leadership and chairman of the Christian Studies Department at Mississippi College. He previously taught at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, according to the ERLC.

Why is the commission searching for a new leader? Its previous head, Brent Leatherwood, resigned in July 2025 without giving a specific reason for doing so. He led the ERLC for nearly four years. Roughly a month before Leatherwood stepped down, the commission survived a vote to abolish it at the annual Southern Baptist meeting, with 57% in support of keeping it.

Dig deeper: Read Christina Grube’s report on Leatherwood’s resignation.