DALLAS (TX)
CNN
June 12, 2018
By Daniel Burke
First it was the pastor in Memphis, whose megachurch applauded when he confessed to having a sexual encounter with a teenager 20 years ago. He was later placed on leave.
Then the head of the Southern Baptist Convention’s executive committee resigned, citing “a morally inappropriate relationship in the recent past.”
And last month, Paige Patterson, 75, a revered figure in many Southern Baptist circles, was removed as president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary amid accusations he had mishandled two separate cases where students came to him saying they had been raped.
Before those allegations came to light, Patterson had already been the subject of controversy. Audio and video recordings emerged online of Patterson making lewd remarks about a teenage girl, and counseling a woman in an abusive relationship not to divorce her husband, even when she showed up at church with two black eyes.
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