SARALAND, Ala. (BP and local reports) – Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) President Ed Litton says he will not be a candidate for a second term in office when the SBC convenes for its 2022 annual meeting in June in Anaheim, Ca., in order to concentrate on his dream of starting a racial reconciliation ministry.
Litton, senior pastor of Redemption Church in the Mobile, Ala., area, made the announcement in a short video released by the church. “The truth is that I believe this work is something God is calling me to do and devote myself to the next five to 10 years of my life,” he said.
Litton did not provide specifics of the initiative other than that it “is not a top-down program but a locally-based strategy inviting local churches to take the lead in their communities.” He said more information will be released at this year’s annual meeting.
Related to his term as SBC president, Litton noted “that it’s been a difficult year,” and took responsibility “for mistakes I made in the preparation and delivery of particular sermons” — an acknowledgement of the plagiarism accusations Litton addressed and apologized for early in his presidency.
Litton’s legacy will include his involvement in appointing a task force to oversee an outside investigation of the SBC Executive Committee as it faces accusations of not appropriately handling claims of sex abuse in the SBC. The investigation is scheduled to be completed prior to the annual meeting in Anaheim.
In closing his video, Litton noted that “in a time of increased division and polarization,” Southern Baptists “must be united in our pursuit of that one sacred effort of reaching the nations for Christ,” pointing Southern Baptists to the 2022 SBC Annual Meeting theme of “Jesus, the Center of It All.”
