Anti-gay Southern Baptist church leader resigns after admitting ‘morally inappropriate’ relationship
US President George W. Bush poses with Southern Baptist Convention chief Dr. Frank S. Page in 2006 (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)
A pastor who led the anti-LGBT Southern Baptist Convention has quit after admitting a “morally inappropriate” relationship.
Frank Page had served as chief executive of the church, which is the largest Protestant denomination in the United States, since 2010 – overseeing its mammoth $200 million budget.
The Southern Baptists are renowned for preaching an absolute rejection of homosexuality, investing heavily in lobbying against LGBT equality, while Page himself claimed that accepting homosexuals “breaks the heart of God”.
Page mysteriously quit his role this week after admitting to an undisclosed indiscretion.
In a statement released to Baptist Press on Tuesday, he said: “It is with deep regret that I tender my resignation from the SBC Executive Committee and announce my retirement from active ministry, effective immediately.
“As a result of a personal failing, I have embarrassed my family, my Lord, myself, and the Kingdom. Out of a desire to protect my family and those I have hurt, I initially announced my retirement earlier today without a complete explanation.
“However, after further wrestling with my personal indiscretion, it became apparent to me that this situation must be acknowledged in a more forthright manner. It is my most earnest desire in the days to come to rebuild the fabric of trust with my wife and daughters, those who know me best and love me most.”
The 65-year-old did not detail what his “personal indiscretion” was.
Florida pastor Stephen Rummage, chairman of the Executive Committee, released a statement which explained: “Last evening, the officers of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee met via phone conference with Dr. Frank Page during which he announced his plans for retirement.
“Today, I spoke with Dr. Page and learned that his retirement announcement was precipitated by a morally inappropriate relationship in the recent past.
“This news will, we understand, bring great sorrow. I have shared with the Executive Committee officers what Dr. Page shared with me, including Dr. Page’s repentance and deep regret that his actions have caused pain for others.”
The Southern Baptist Convention previously published a guide on how to discriminate against gay employees without breaking non-discrimination laws.
The guide explains how to fire an employee for being gay without being put at risk of a lawsuit.
Ronnie Floyd, who was President of the Southern Baptist Convention from 2014 until 2016, claimed that homosexuality is a “con job” conceived by Satan.
Floyd has previously written a book titled “The Gay Agenda: It’s Dividing The Family, The Church, And a Nation”, and linked homosexuality to Satan.
He said in a 2003 sermon: “I rise to speak on this issue out of brokenness, realizing the many families in our own church who have lost family members to the homosexual lifestyle.
“I have had some say to me, ‘Pastor Floyd, it would have been easier to have lost my child to death than to homosexuality. It is killing me’.
“Do you know what is happening on television? The newest is called “Queer Eye For The Straight Guy.” Five gay men who call themselves ‘The Fab Five’ do a makeover on a straight guy. Another show, ‘Boy Meets Boy’, is where a gay bachelor chooses one man among 15 other men to be his partner. Then there is the television show, ‘Will and Grace’, and another one called ‘Queer as Folk’.
“I have never seen any of these and do not intend to do so, but understand, the goal is to baptize you into their lifestyle where it becomes normal for you to hear and see it, making you accept eventually that it is a non-threatening norm in our society.
It appears now that everywhere you look, everything you read and everything you hear is about the gay lifestyle. Satan has taken his tool of homosexuality, a gross and evil sin, and done a con job on the American culture, making it seem like all is okay when you are gay.
“I hope you are aware that what was once subtle has now turned into the rage of a lion as brazen and threatening as anything in our culture. I must sound the trumpet loud and clear, praying that we do not run in retreat, but march in the truth of God valiantly.
“This is not a skirmish or a conflict or a disagreement, but it is a war. The war they have declared against our culture has an agenda and we need to be aware of it.”
The Church also declared “spiritual warfare” on gay marriage.
In 2015 Floyd said: “We are in a spiritual warfare. This is not a time for Southern Baptists to stand back!
“The Supreme Court is not the final authority, nor is the culture itself! I declare to everyone today as a minister of the Gospel: I will not officiate over any same sex unions or same sex marriage ceremonies!”
No-one asked him to, incidentally.
