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Prominent Baptist Leader With Cedarville Ties Removed From Seminary Post Over Controversial Remarks

Paige Patterson
Paige Patterson
Paige Patterson

A member of Cedarville University’s board of trustees has been removed from his role as president of the Texas Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Paige Patterson, 75, who has also served on Cedarville’s board of trustees since 2013, was stripped of his seminary leadership position after years-old controversial comments he made about women resurfaced. 

The Washington Post reports Patterson was recorded advising a woman who reported being abused by her husband to, “be submissive in anyway that you can.”

Patterson has also helped to pass resolutions banning women as pastors, the Associated Press reports. He is also accused of making comments on a teenage girl's body. 

In response to Patterson's statements, NPR News reports more than 2,000 Southern Baptist women signed an open letter urging Southern Baptist Convention leaders not to allow, "the biblical view of leadership to be misused in such a way that a leader with an unbiblical view of authority, womanhood, and sexuality be allowed to continue in leadership."

Patterson later issued an apology, saying he was sorry "to every woman who has been wounded by anything I have said that was inappropriate or that lacked clarity," NPR reports.

Read more about the allegations at NPR News.

The trustees of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth removed Patterson as president early Wednesday. Trustees voted to instead appoint Patterson President Emeritus with compensation.

In a statement, board officials said they reached that decision after a day-long meeting.

"After much prayer and a more than 13-hour discussion regarding challenges facing the Institution, including those of enrollment, financial, leadership and institutional identity, the Board determined to move in the direction of new leadership for the benefit of the future mission of the Seminary," the statement reads.

Read the full statement

A Change.org petition calling for Patterson’s removal from Cedarville University’s board of trustees has so far been signed by more than 200 people.

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