Southern Baptists call Paige Patterson to account
Firing him as seminary president is the most dramatic example of the #MeToo movement pervading the top reaches of the Southern Baptist Convention.
The Southern Baptist Convention’s largest seminary fired president Paige Patterson following an outpouring of criticism—including from within the denomination—for his comments on women. Patterson is also a former president of the 15-million-member denomination.
After meeting for 13 hours on May 22, the board of trustees of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, voted to make Paige Patterson president emeritus.
A week later, the school’s executive committee, responding to what it said was new information about Patterson’s handling of a sexual abuse allegation, voted to remove his emeritus status and to withdraw a previous invitation for him to reside on campus as theologian-in-residence with compensation.
