SBC’s Frank Page Resigns Over ‘Personal Failing’

By Aaron Earls

Frank Page, president and chief executive officer of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee, has resigned effective immediately over a “morally inappropriate relationship,” according to a Baptist Press report.

Stephen Rummage, pastor of Bell Shoals Baptist Church in Brandon, Florida, and chairman of the Executive Committee, released a statement on behalf of the committee that noted Page informed him of his resignation due to the inappropriate relationship.

“This news will, we understand, bring great sorrow,” the statement read. “I have shared with the Executive Committee officers what Dr. Page shared with me, including Dr. Page’s repentance and deep regret that his actions have caused pain for others.”

Rummage asked Southern Baptists to “pray for everyone involved in a situation like this.”

He also noted “the stewardship we owe Southern Baptists and the watching world to communicate with truth and candor and to honor the Lord in our actions and decisions.”

Within the SBC, the Executive Committee runs the day-to-day tasks of the denomination and oversees the distribution of the nearly $200 million in yearly funds it receives from local churches to national entities including two mission boards and six seminaries.

According to SBC.net, “the work of the Executive Committee is basically fiscal and advisory.” It acts on behalf of the convention in between annual sessions.

Rummage said the EC, in keeping with bylaws, would be working on a plan to provide “interim transition” and also “conduct a search for the next president and CEO of the SBC Executive Committee.”

In a statement also released today, Page said, “As a result of a personal failing, I have embarrassed my family, my Lord, myself, and the Kingdom.”

He continued, “It is my most earnest desire in the days to come to rebuild the fabric of trust with my wife and daughters, those who know me best and love me most.”

Page was elected as the president and CEO of the Executive Committee in 2010. Previously, he served as a local church pastor and as president of the SBC from 2006-2008.