Former ERLC president sued by immediate past chairman of SBC Executive Committee
NASHVILLE (BP and local reports) — Mike Stone, immediate past chairman of the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) in Nashville, filed a lawsuit Oct. 18 alleging he has “suffered a tremendous loss in professional cultivation and reputational standing, decreased future earning power… and serious mental and emotional injury in the form of extreme public embarrassment, stress, anxiety, and fear” due to the actions of former SBC Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) president Russell Moore.
Stone is pastor of Emmanuel Church in Blackshear, Ga. Moore departed ERLC earlier this year for a theologian post with Christianity Today magazine.
The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee in Nashville, lists a trio of claims for Stone’s legal action: defamation/libel, false light invasion of privacy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The allegations are rooted in a pair of private letters authored by Moore that were released publicly by unknown sources in May 2021, just weeks before the June 2021 election for SBC president which Stone narrowly lost in a runoff to Ed Litton, pastor of Redemption Church in Saraland, Ala.
Stone alleges he was defamed by Moore “within the text of two letters strategically concealed from general distribution within the ERLC and the SBC but then subsequently surreptitiously released,” and that the letters were part of a “malicious campaign” against Stone as retaliation for leading an SBC Executive Committee task force formed in February 2020 that investigated the activities of the ERLC and any impact to Cooperative Program giving caused by the leadership of Moore.
That task force, chaired by Stone, issued its report in February 2021 saying “the current perception of the leadership and direction of the ERLC by many Southern Baptists is a substantial impediment to the growth of the Cooperative Program,” with “potential for a measurable decline in the near future and beyond” if there are not “quick and significant changes in that perception.”
The task force also said its findings showed “considerable conversation” continues in the SBC “as to the effectiveness and efficiency of the ERLC’s current structure in addressing public policy concerns.”
In addition to the defamation allegations in the lawsuit, Stone alleged Moore’s actions were an attempt to “discredit his campaign for the presidency of the SBC.”
Stone has been a member of the Executive Committee since 2014 and served as its chairman from June 2018 through June 2020. He is represented in the legal action by Todd G. Cole of Brentwood, Tenn.
The lawsuit states that Stone is seeking damages of at least $750,000 as compensation and alleges that Stone’s “business operations have already been negatively impacted” and his “pastoral efforts will undoubtedly suffer decreased church attendance and a reduction in donations and honorariums because of Defendant’s statements which are untruthful and have cast Plaintiff in a false light.”
Attempts to reach Stone’s attorney and Moore were unsuccessful.