Dear Members of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission Board of Trustees,

I write with gratitude for your service and with respect for the weight of the moment before you. I recognize that you are seeking to discern the future of the ERLC—an institution that has served Southern Baptists for many decades—and I want to offer my thoughts in a spirit that is both charitable and candid.

I believe the usefulness of the ERLC as an official institution within Southern Baptist life has expired. I do not say this lightly, nor do I say it with animus. I say it as one who has been personally helped by ERLC resources and as one who has benefitted from thoughtful public leadership offered over the years.

At its core, the Southern Baptist Convention is a mission-sending and cooperative gospel-advancing body. We partner together to pursue evangelism, missions, and church planting, and we have been well served by functioning as a “large tent” for those missional efforts. That cooperation is precious, and it must remain our highest priority.

When the ERLC began decades ago, there were far fewer national policy advocacy organizations and far fewer ways for pastors and churches to stay informed on emerging cultural and political issues. In that environment, it made sense for Southern Baptists to maintain an institution tasked with helping keep our churches informed and represented in public discourse. However, that is no longer our environment. We are now deeply into the information age. Pastors can access abundant, timely, and high-quality policy analysis from countless sources. In other words, the original need that justified an SBC entity devoted to this work is significantly diminished.

To be clear, I am not suggesting there is no place for Southern Baptist voices engaged in public policy. I am happy for many organizations to exist that inform pastors and advocate for particular policy positions, and for those organizations to serve alongside Southern Baptist Churches and pastors. I also want to note that I have appreciated the clarity and conviction that leaders such as Richard Land, Russell Moore, and Brent Leatherwood have brought to the public square. Even when I disagreed, I considered their contributions valuable and worthy of attention.

The issue, however, is not whether thoughtful policy leadership is helpful. The issue is whether it is possible for any policy entity to speak on behalf of Southern Baptists as Southern Baptists, in a way that does not inevitably create division within our cooperative mission.

It is simply impossible, in today’s political landscape, for an institution like the ERLC to represent “Southern Baptist policy” without creating unnecessary disunity—even among those who are aligned on core moral convictions. The problem is not merely disagreement over moral issues; it is disagreement over how those moral issues should be addressed through public policy.

Consider one example: abortion. I believe that 99.9% of Southern Baptists are pro-life. Yet even among those who share that conviction, there is often wide disagreement about what policies would best reduce abortion and support women and families. For instance, should the government fund daycare? Should public schools begin earlier to better support working families? Should universal government healthcare be pursued as a means of reducing abortion rates and improving maternal care? A Christian could plausibly argue that each of these policies might reduce abortion, and yet Southern Baptists disagree widely over such questions.

This is my point: even when we are deeply united on the issue, we are often divided on the policy mechanisms.

So, I return to the central question: can the ERLC continue to exist as an effective organization that helps inform pastors on policy matters and advocates for policies that many Christians support? Yes, it can.

But can the ERLC continue to exist as an institution of official Southern Baptist Convention life without creating division and disunity—and therefore harming the shared unity and energy we need for missions, evangelism, and church planting? No, it cannot.

This is the impasse. Policy advocacy is not the primary concern of Southern Baptists. Evangelism, missions, and church planting are. And because the ERLC’s work inevitably moves Southern Baptists into contested policy territory that is far beyond the scope of confessional agreement, the result is predictable: division, distraction, and a diminished capacity for cooperation in the Great Commission.

Therefore, I believe the ERLC should be discontinued.

I recognize that removing an entity of this kind could be highly contentious—especially if it becomes the subject of debate at two consecutive Southern Baptist Conventions—and therefore I respectfully urge you the Board of Trustees to bring this recommendation directly before the messengers at our June meeting as a Board-led recommendation. I believe doing so would serve the unity of our Convention and would foster greater peace among Southern Baptists.

My suggestion is that the SBC Executive Committee maintain a modest policy office that serves the elected President of the SBC when a unified voice is required—when the Convention must speak clearly as a whole, in a manner consistent with our confession and resolutions. In that arrangement, the SBC would retain the ability to communicate when appropriate, without sustaining a permanent entity that must continually speak into political questions in ways that inevitably exceed broad Southern Baptist consensus.

I offer these thoughts with sincere gratitude for the good work the ERLC has done, with personal affection for many staff members, and as someone who has been helped by the resources and thought leadership you have provided. I do not question the motives of those who have served. I am simply persuaded that for the good of the larger mission of the SBC, it is time for the ERLC to disassemble and I believe that its board should lead this effort for the unity of Southern Baptists.

Thank you for hearing my concerns and considering my perspective. Please know that I am praying for you as you deliberate during this important season.

Faithfully,

J. Edwin Dees, PhD
Senior Pastor, Christ Covenant Church

Note: This article was originally published at The Christian Index.