The Southern Baptist’s annual meeting in Birmingham, as predicted, was a sniveling Social Justice fest. Flexing their muscles against conservative Southern Baptists in the pew, SBC leaders – by far, more progressive than the typical church member – signaled their politically correct virtue throughout the event. Snuck through without much noise, many thanks to more controversial measures like Resolution 9, the SBC appointed a woman to a position of leadership for little reason other than that she was a woman. While the crowd applauded wildly that they had done something groundbreaking, the consequences of their soft bigotry had to be ironed out behind the scenes.
I’ll begin by saying that Don Currence, so far as I know is a scholar and a gentleman. He was on staff at my church when I was a kid, but the last time I saw him was at a wedding he officiated about 15 years ago. However, I’ve no contact with him since. And, so far as I know, Kathy Litton is a wonderful lady (I don’t know any different). This isn’t about personalities to me.
Currence had previously served as the chief assistant to the SBC Registration Secretary, Jim Wells, for 12 years. Don was elected as Registration Secretary in both 2017 and 2018 after Well’s death. The position is a thankless job, and most don’t know it exists. But to summarize, the Registration Secretary makes a convention of ten thousand (or so) Baptist Messengers work. In short, it’s a nightmare and Don Currence has handled it like a champ for 15 years. He is infinitely qualified and unquestionably the most experienced man in the SBC to do the job, hands down – no questions asked.
On top of this, Don has served as a trustee in several SBC entities and always received glowing accolades for his work and diligence. As one of his current church members told Pulpit & Pen, “He’s the most organized person on the planet.”
Electing a Woman Just Because She’s a Woman
It’s odd for Southern Baptists to run opposition candidates for such a thankless and tiresome, non-political position. And yet, Florida pastor Jimmy Scroggins, a woke leader who’s “all-in” on Social Justice, decided to nominate Kathy Litton as Registration Secretary. Litton is the wife of an Alabama pastor, Ed Litton. Litton’s primary experience in denominational life is her largely honorary role doled out as a part of the denominational spoils system, “director of planter spouse development” for the North American Mission Board. She has no experience with SBC registration whatsoever and hasn’t even volunteered in the office.
In other words, Kathy Litton has no idea what she’ll be doing as the Registration Secretary.
And yet, the glowing accolades for Litton came in strongly from SBC leaders like Johnny Hunt, Micah Fries, and Susie Hawkins. But…why?
What on earth does Kathy Litton know about being registration secretary? Nothing. And yet, she’s the first woman elected to a convention office in more than a generation.
And yet, Litton won by 44 votes cast out of 8 thousand. Why did so many Southern Baptists vote for a completely inexperienced and under-qualified individual? The answer is simple: She’s a woman, and the newer, more politically-correct Southern Baptist Convention was eager to put a woman in a position of leadership, no matter how seemingly small.
Litton was a guest in May on an ERLC podcast hosted by leftist-progressive, Trilla Newbell. The topic was “women in ministry” and Litton was anything but cautious in her supposed complementarianism. It was just one of many of the ERLC’s efforts to project a kinder, gentler complementarianism (also known as egalitarianism). In the podcast, Newbell projected Litton as a ground-breaking female leader who serves in “all-male spaces.” The podcast was timed by the ERLC to be a lead-in to the SBC Convention, and no doubt was designed to help her candidacy.
There’s no doubt that Litton’s nomination and promotion by woke SBC leaders – including the ERLC – was an attempt to push the boundaries of women in leadership. Serious proposals were made by SBC leaders to make Beth Moore or another woman the Convention’s president, with certain SBC seminary leaders shrugging at the idea and saying it was Biblically plausible. This is their attempt to test the water.
Sadly, few of the SBC messengers knew they were being lab-rats in the Intelligentsia’s social experimentation and denominational engineering.
UH-OH. Now What?
However, reports have circulated into Pulpit & Pen that denominational leaders soon realized they had a problem. As Litton’s victory set in, they thought about the fact that she didn’t actually know how to do the job.
What has been reported in various outlets is that SBC leaders came to Currence and pled him to “help” Litton do her job next year.
However, sources have confirmed to Pulpit & Pen that basically they’re wanting Currence to actually do Litton’s job altogether. Reportedly, Currence agreed do her job for her, under the guise of ‘training,’ contingent upon the SBC footing the travel bill for him and his daughters. Reportedly, SBC leaders agreed to pay Current’s travel expenses to the Convention if he would continue to do his work as Registration Secretary.
It must have been extraordinarily hard for Currence to agree to do the job of the person who was elected to replace him, for no other reason than that she was a woman because she’s incapable of doing it herself. Or perhaps his heart is just generous. Either way, it seems that the SBC is willing to spend God’s money to cover up their mistakes of putting an unqualified person in the position.
Is it possible to have Jimmy Scroggins, Johnny Hunt, Micah Fries, and Susie Hawkins pay Currence and his family’s travel expenses to SBC 2020? They’re the ones who should be paying the tab.
When the SBC decides to start electing people to offices because of identity politics, it will inevitably elect people who are not qualified for their position.
Some will consider the added travel expense a small thing to be able to signal the virtue of electing the first woman to Convention office since the Conservative Resurgence. The rest of us have brains.
[Contributed by JD Hall]
