Southern Baptists Denounce Attempts To Sell Historic Headquarters

Go woke, go broke is a popular mantra when it comes to entertainment and corporations, but it applies to religion as well. The bombshell news that the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee authorized, Clint Pressley, president of the SBC, to borrow against the denomination headquarters while they attempt to sell the real estate was meant with sharp criticism from the orthodox who have been fighting to save the convention from liberalism.

The liquidity crisis of the SBC has not gone unnoticed Jon Whitehead of the Center For Baptist Leadership has sharp words to say.

After an executive session on “legal strategy,” EC Chairman Philip Robertson reported that the EC “approved an amended 2024-2025…operating budget of $11.8 million to meet the EC’s operational and legal expenses” and that “the executive committee authorized the president to execute a loan secured by the building and place the SBC building on the market.”

This is staggering news: The SBCEC is now looking to sell the Southern Baptist Convention’s office building in downtown Nashville. 

Why? Because of the gross mismanagement from our leadership class in responding to what Joe Rigney has rightly called “emotional sabotage.”  There was no “abuse crisis” at the Executive Committee, but wannabe leaders like Griffin Gulledge, Ronnie Parrot, and Grant Gaines happily destroyed generations of Baptist work to show they “cared.”

Whitehead rightly points out that the virtue signal of feminists has plunged the SBC into financial crisis which he breaks down into more layman’s terms.

In other words, they need a lot of cash. They expect the cost of the debt to be unsustainable on their current budget. So they’re borrowing against future sales proceeds of their biggest asset.

You probably only do that if there’s a short-fuse, deal-of-a-lifetime on the hook.

Defending Guidepost in these lawsuits is eating them alive; that seems to be the cash floodgate [the SBC EC] needs to close. 

If they don’t have time or appetite for risk to go to trial, they need to settle or buy off Guidepost. And Hunt is probably cheaper.

The Southern Baptist Convention’s decision to get in bed with the gay affirming law firm, Guidepost Solutions has cost the convention millions on top of the millions spent directly paying for services rendered. The Guidepost report has led to multiple lawsuits, one from David Sills, another from Johnny Hunt which have bled the cash reserves of the Southern Baptist Convention headquarters, not necessarily their capacity for missions. 

Jon Whitehead laments the sales of Southern Baptists’ properties which have been in prestigious locations. Tom Ascol also had harsh words to describe the situation, which stands in contrast to his friendly bid for the convention’s presidency in 2023.

“All of this is an undeniable testimony to the failure of SBC denominational leaders over the last six years. If they didn’t see this coming, they are incompetent. If they did see it but did not try to stop it, they are cowardly. Either way, they have failed and should step down so that competent, courageous leaders can help guide us out through these treacherous waters.”

Tom Ascol

Lawyer and advisor to the Center For Baptist Leadership, Sam Webb states:

Go woke, go broke finally catches up with the SBC

Sam Webb

Jon Whitehead concludes by pitting the achievement of forefathers against the folly of their descendants:

The SBC leadership class has long scoffed at the wisdom of local church pastors and lay leaders. Instead of listening to those of us who rightly warned we were on an unsustainable path, they’ve eaten up what prior generations meant for us to preserve as an inheritance. Social justice public relations campaigns that try to make the SBC attractive to the woke and infamous have devoured the tithes of hard-working Baptists. 

Social Justice has been a costly endeavor for Southern Baptists and the go woke go broke mantra may be more applicable in their situation than it is for corporate America.