Eight deacons of a prominent Southern Baptist megachurch in Arkansas have resigned, refusing to sign a “recommitment form,” viewed by some as a “loyalty pledge” to the church’s senior pastor. The news, reported in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, comes after the church’s mishandling of multiple sex abuse allegations.
Stephen Carlisle, longtime deacon at Immanuel Baptist Church (IBC) in Little Rock, Arkansas, told the Gazette the deacons resigned following a contentious deacons’ meeting last week. David Choate and seven others have reportedly resigned as deacons, after being asked to sign a “recommitment form,” pledging support to IBC Lead Pastor Steven Smith.
For months, Smith has been under fire for failing to inform his Southern Baptist Convention (SBC)-affiliated church of multiple alleged child sex abuse incidents. During the Feb. 4 deacons’ meeting, deacons had been slated to cast a vote of no confidence regarding Smith’s leadership, as Smith acknowledged in an email to members. However, that resolution was tabled by a vote of 27 to 18, according to a report in the Gazette.
Instead, IBC Deacon Chairman Greg Crain reportedly championed a “reinstatement process” for deacons at that meeting. Deacons were asked to sign the form and set up an interview with the newly formed Recommitment Committee, to be reinstated as deacons.
However, according to reporting by the Gazette, the IBC board of deacons’ bylaws, revised in 2015, make no mention of a Recommitment Committee. “One deacon said he’d never heard of the committee until the moment the recommitment forms were distributed,” stated the story.
