Ronnie Floyd, the president and CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee (EC), resigned from his leadership position in the SBC on Thursday after the Executive Committee voted to waive attorney-client privilege amid a denominational sex abuse investigation.
According to Christianity Today, Floyd announced his resignation in an email to the EC after serving in the role for two years. His resignation will go into effect on Oct. 31.
He warned that the decision to waive attorney-client privilege, which was made on Oct. 5, places “our missionary enterprise as Southern Baptists into uncertain, unknown, unprecedented and uncharted waters.”
He added, “Due to my personal integrity and the leadership responsibility entrusted to me, I will not and cannot any longer fulfill the duties placed upon me as the leader of the executive, fiscal, and fiduciary entity of the SBC.
“In the midst of deep disappointment and discouragement, we have to make this decision by our own choice and do so willingly, because there is no other decision for me to make,” he concluded.
Floyd’s departure comes after at least ten EC members resigned due to the EC’s decision to waive privileges.
“I am saddened by his resignation. He’s had a tremendous ministry for years and years. I know he loves Southern Baptists,” Rolland Slade, chairman of the EC, told the Baptist Press.
“I know it was his intention to come to Nashville to serve Southern Baptists well, and I believe he’s fulfilled that to the best of his ability. However, I understand the vote of the committee put him in a very difficult position,” he added.
As Christian Headlines reported earlier this week, the EC’s longtime general counsel, attorneys James Guenther and James Jordan, also cut ties with the denomination over the waived privileges.
In 2019, Floyd became EC president after his predecessor Frank Page resigned over a “morally inappropriate relationship.”
As EC president, Floyd launched Vision 2025, a strategic effort to reach others with the Gospel. The initiative aimed to increase the number of full-time SBC missionaries and churches and to expand discipleship.
Related:
SBC General Counsel to Split with Denomination after Vote to Waive Privilege
Photo courtesy: ©Ronnie Floyd Facebook
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer. He is also the co-hosts of the For Your Soul podcast, which seeks to equip the church with biblical truth and sound doctrine. Visit his blog Blessed Are The Forgiven.
