Within the Southern Baptist Convention, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission has been a prevailing issue. This past convention, the ERLC survived an effort to decommission the SBC entity, but a sizable minority of messengers voted for its abolition as either an outright effort to remove or reform the organization.
Effective July 31, 2025, Brent Leatherwood has resigned as President of the ERLC, to be replaced by Miles Mullin, ERLC vice president and chief of staff, as acting president. Leatherwood served in the role since 2022, first in an interim capacity before being fully endowed in the office. He succeeded Russell Moore, who oversees Christianity Today, who had succeeded Richard Land, who oversees Christian Post.
Leatherwood made the following statement:
Our remarkable team at the ERLC 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. 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.
Leatherwood’s tenure at the ERLC was wrought with meaningless gestures of conservatism combined with liberal subversion and petty projects. Amongst the most notorious controversies of the ERLC include its consistent support for mass immigration and amnesty; its subversion of abolitionist bills in the state legislatures; and Leatherwood’s use of his office to support gun control and withhold the Nashville shooter’s “tranifesto.” The former controversy was most recent as the ERLC backed a recent amnesty bill in Congress.
In 2024, there was a mishap where former ERLC Trustee Kevin Smith announced the departure of Leatherwood informally, only to be ousted himself. Though Smith was the fall-guy in the scandal, it served as an admission that there were murmurings in the background regarding Leatherwood’s performance.
In 2025, the vote to abolish the ERLC failed to 56.89% opposed to 42.84% in favor, but the fact that the vote was as contentious was a powerful narrative to undermine confidence in Leatherwood’s leadership.
Analysis
There is always more underneath the surface when there are high-profile departures. Politically, this was an optimal time for those who favor institutional legitimacy in the Southern Baptist Convention. Essentially, Leatherwood was retained long enough to see through the fight to abolish the ERLC, defeating the laics who sought to usurp the SBC platform, but was subsequently removed in order to improve the image of the organization. They withstood the tide to remove him, and then the ERLC made changes on their terms. They get to control the narrative surrounding Leatherwood’s departure.
Meanwhile, Brent Leatherwood will likely find a landing spot, though probably not as prestigious as his predecessors. By promoting Mullin, it is likely a signal that there will be little, if any, changes in the ERLC’s mission going forward, only leadership that maintains a lower profile.
