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The Southern Baptist Convention is navigating how it fits into the political moment and how far it should wade into hyperpartisan battles. Doug McSchooler/AP

Joe Biden Dropped Out Months Ago. Southern Baptists Are Still Arguing About It.

Members of the Southern Baptist Convention have been openly fighting as they grapple with how much its public policy arm should wade into political discourse — and how that might determine its future.

The Southern Baptist Convention is navigating how it fits into the political moment and how far it should wade into hyperpartisan battles. Doug McSchooler/AP

President Joe Biden’s decision to end his reelection bid revealed a rift in the Southern Baptist Convention, one that threatens to destroy its decades-old public policy organization.

The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission takes theological beliefs held by Southern Baptists, whose more than 46,000 churches make them the largest Protestant denomination in the United States, and applies them to the public square.

It is deeply influential in the nation’s capital. ERLC staff have helped push religious freedom and human rights bills over the finish line in Congress, also focusing on conservative priorities like opposing same-sex marriage. They built support for overturning Roe v. Wade, and they’ve advanced anti-abortion laws in the years since. They walk the halls of power, meet with world leaders and maintain relationships with lawmakers across the political spectrum. They even have a friend third in the line to the presidency: House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Southern Baptist, was once a trustee on the ERLC board.