Former Southern Baptist Convention President Ed Litton retains his role as a trustee at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary despite documented instances of plagiarism in his sermons, a reality which resurfaces in the wake of Harvard University President Claudine Gay resigning because of unearthed instances of plagiarism in her academic work.
Conservative activists and reporters documented several dozen examples of plagiarism in roughly half of the academic papers published by Gay which, combined with backlash over a recent hearing about campus antisemitism, led to her resignation on Tuesday. The controversy immediately drew comparisons among evangelicals to Litton, a pastor at Redemption Church in Mobile, Alabama, and a scandal provoked by him repeating content verbatim from a series on the book of Romans preached by former Southern Baptist Convention President JD Greear.
The plagiarism accusations emerged days after Litton was elected to lead the nation’s largest association of Protestant churches in 2021, while Redemption Church removed more than 140 videos from their YouTube channel after the concerns were raised. Litton released a statement saying that he had used content from Greear with permission but “should have given him credit as I shared these insights,” while Greear acknowledged in another statement that he had granted permission for Litton to use “some of the content” and mirror how he had “broken down” the epistle for his series. Litton did not seek reelection as president in 2022.
Beyond maintaining a presence at annual denominational meetings, Litton serves as a trustee at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, one of the educational institutions maintained by the Southern Baptist Convention, and is slated to continue his five-year term until 2027.
The student handbook for Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary defines plagiarism as a “failure to distinguish between the work of the student and the work of others, either intentionally or unintentionally.” Presenting the “thoughts or ideas of another without proper attribution” is one of the five types of plagiarism outlined in the document. Professors at the school have discretion to fail students for instances of plagiarism or cheating, with a “minimum six-month suspension” or “strong possibility of expulsion” available for repeated instances of plagiarism.
The Sentinel contacted Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary on Wednesday to ask whether the school has reconsidered Litton as a trustee in light of the plagiarism scandal or the more recent controversy at Harvard. This article will be updated with any response.
Entities such as the Conservative Baptist Network called for Litton to resign, contending in a statement that “the testimony of Southern Baptists and of the gospel is at stake” and noting the “silence of nearly all” Southern Baptist leaders on the matter. The denominational resolution committee, which was chaired by current Southern Baptist Convention President Bart Barber, rejected multiple resolutions on plagiarism from reaching the floor of the 2022 annual meeting.
David Schrock, the author of a book on plagiarism from the pulpit and a pastor at Occoquan Bible Church in Woodbridge, Virginia, said in comments provided to The Sentinel that “plagiarizing sermons is certainly a practice which should raise all sorts of red flags,” especially in light of biblical texts requiring that elders of churches remain “above reproach.”
“It is embarrassing that Harvard, through many fits and starts, slouched towards righteousness regarding a president that plagiarized, while the Southern Baptist Convention, when given the same opportunity, could not even bring a resolution to the floor,” he remarked.
The controversy occurs as the denomination sees an historic membership decline, a reality also attributed to broader nationwide decreases in church attendance and a perceived theologically liberal drift among senior leadership. One analysis from The Sentinel last year found that half of the colleges associated with the Southern Baptist Convention or related state conventions have some form of official diversity, equity, and inclusion infrastructure.
In addition to the plagiarism scandal, the Southern Baptist Convention made national headlines last summer as messengers to the annual meeting voted to uphold decisions that removed churches from friendly cooperation status for employing female pastors, a practice which violates denominational confessions and historic Christian doctrine on pastoral ministry.
