'Fight is not over': Baptist pastor ousted following anti-Trump comments

05 February

Although the Southern Baptist Convention is often mentioned in connection with right-wing social conservatives, some Baptists are liberals — for example, MSNBC's Rev. Al Sharpton, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Georgia). Warnock, in fact, is a Baptist minister.

President Donald Trump has both supporters and critics among Baptists. And in Charlotte, North Carolina, a pastor is being ousted from his position at the Myers Park Baptist Church in response to some scathing anti-Trump comments.

After Trump narrowly defeated Democratic nominee Kamala Harris (herself a Baptist) in the 2024 presidential election, the Rev. Ben Boswell vehemently lambasted him in the pulpit.

Boswell compared Trump's victory to the "gathering dark of Hitler's rule," warning that immigrant families would suffer and telling attendees, "But our faith also teaches us.… that every crucifixion needs a witness. The fight is not over, it's just beginning."

According to National Public Radio (NPR) reporter Frank Langfitt, the church's congregation gave Boswell a "standing ovation." But when the church's board met several weeks after the post-election sermon, board members, Langfitt reports, "voted 17-3 to ask Boswell to step down."

Marcy McClanahan, who headed the board at the time, said Boswell was being asked to resign because attendance at Myers Park Baptist Church was down.

McClanahan, at the time, said, "Ben has been given every chance to change his words and actions to appeal to a broader audience, but has not been successful in doing so."

Church Deacon Robert Dulin, Langfitt reports, "said many people who had left the church in recent years had complained about the 44-year-old pastor's heavy focus on social and racial justice."

Langfitt notes, "Boswell says the conflict at Myers Park is part of a much bigger national trend to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion programs. He thinks the country is in a pivotal moment, when 'that work is coming with a cost, and people are getting tired and backing off.'"

Read the full NPR article at this link.

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