-Caveat Lector-
Begin forwarded message:
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: February 24, 2007 9:59:54 AM PST
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: He Shoulda Been Catholic (Bible Belt Funnies)
Pastor resigns after arrest
for seeking lewd behavior
By Staff
Jan 6, 2006
http://www.bpnews.net/printerfriendly.asp?ID=22401
Faces of different lives
On the left is the official photo of Lonnie Latham from SBC
Executive Committee files. On the right is his booking mug shot
taken at the Oklahoma County Jail.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Lonnie Latham, pastor of South Tulsa Baptist
Church in Tulsa, Okla., was arrested the night of Jan. 3 in
Oklahoma City for “offering to engage in an act of lewdness”
according to charges published in various wire reports.
In an area of the city known for male prostitution, Latham
allegedly asked a male undercover police officer to go with him to
a local hotel for sex.
Television cameras captured him leaving the jail the next day when
he stated he “was set up” and was in the area “pastoring to police.”
When reached by phone, Latham told Baptist Press that on advice
from his attorneys he declined to comment.
Latham has been pastor of South Tulsa Baptist Church since 2002.
The statistical records available for the SBC show that the church
grew in resident members from 995 to 1,571 during his first two
years there. Information for 2005 was not available.
He also served in various roles within the denomination: as
recording secretary for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma
and by virtue of that office as a member of the state convention’s
64-member executive board and as one of four members representing
Oklahoma on the 82-member Executive Committee of the Southern
Baptist Convention. Both roles required election by messengers from
churches, for the BGCO at the 2000 state annual meeting and for the
SBC EC at the 2004 national annual meeting.
Baptist Press learned from officials of the church, the BGCO and
the SBC Executive Committee that Latham has resigned each of his
positions.
In a letter to the BGCO and an e-mail to the SBC EC, Latham cited
“personal reasons” for his resignation. However, in resigning as
pastor, he spoke in person to lay leaders and staff at South Tulsa
Baptist Church.
The church’s minister of administration, Russell Slack, stated that
Latham also submitted a letter, but that the contents would not be
shared publicly until Sunday with the church body. Slack said that
Latham appeared contrite when he presented his resignation.
“We have obviously two functions: One is to take care of the church
and one is to minister to Lonnie as a brother in Christ,” Slack
said. He added that the church is moving on with their ministries.
“Our focus is on the future,” he said. “We have a great history and
we believe we have a great future, but we've got to focus on God
working through our lives, allowing Him to be the controlling
aspect so that we are, again, in the future, the witness and the
minister in this community as we should be.”
Anthony Jordan, BGCO executive director-treasurer, spoke with
Baptist Press after having talked with Latham.
“We have a dual responsibility,” Jordan said.
“From the standpoint of the church and, certainly, as brothers in
Christ, we are to hold Lonnie to the biblical standard of morality
and to hold him accountable for his actions.” He added, “Lonnie has
responded to that admonition by resigning from his church, asking
their forgiveness and stepping aside to seek healing.
“At the same time, in the midst of failure, the church is to be a
place of restoration,” he said. “That is the biblical admonition.”
In a statement to Baptist Press, Morris H. Chapman, president and
chief executive officer of the SBC Executive Committee, expressed
concern for all those involved.
“We’re all saddened by Lonnie Latham’s action along with the
subsequent charge against him,” he said. “Our heartfelt concern
goes out to Lonnie, his family, church and community in South
Tulsa. The emotional anguish must be agonizing for these who know
him best. They are on our hearts and in our prayers....
“Of course, Christians are human and among 16 million Southern
Baptists there will be moral lapses,” Chapman said. “When it
happens, we grieve for the family, the church, the denomination,
and God’s Kingdom and we pray for complete rehabilitation of the
one who has fallen.”
Latham was outspoken about social and cultural issues, including
opposition to tribal gaming as well as support for the state
amendment to protect the traditional definition of marriage. Voters
approved tribal gaming for the state but also voted overwhelmingly
for the constitutional amendment.
He also supported the report by an SBC task force that churches
needed to provide productive, effective and redemptive ministry to
help homosexuals leave that lifestyle.
Critics of the Southern Baptist Convention have seized upon
Latham’s arrest to attack Christians in general for hypocrisy.
Others, like the homosexual group Soulforce, have taken advantage
of the opportunity to attack the SBC’s position that homosexuality
is a sin.
In a press release, Soulforce spokespersons called the SBC “anti-
gay” and accused Southern Baptists of causing homosexuals to live a
“dark and secretive double-life” that causes “this kind of needless
suffering.”
Chapman addressed various criticisms that have been aired in the
media.
“Obviously, this news has brought negative attention to the
Southern Baptist Convention and Baptists in Oklahoma,” Chapman
said. “It has opened the door for those who seem to relish the
failure of any Christian. It has given an opportunity for those who
will to seize the moment to mock the Christian heritage to which
Lonnie has testified through the years.
“Regardless of what others may say,” Chapman continued, “the
failure of one does not negate the witness of many faithful
Christians to the power of Jesus Christ in their lives. The
hypocrisy of a messenger does not compromise the integrity of the
message. <What about "of EVERY messenger?"> The Bible is no less
true than it was a week ago or years ago. It continues to offer
hope to all who will believe, including Lonnie and the rest of us.”
California pastor Rob Zinn, chairman of the SBC Executive
Committee, in a statement to Baptist Press, said, “My heart was
broken to hear the report about Lonnie Latham. My first response
was to pray for him, his family, church and the work of the
Southern Baptist Convention.
“At this moment, the best that we can do is pray -- God knows all
the facts, the truth and the situation and He is able,” Zinn said.
Jordan urged compassion and cautioned about being too critical of
anyone else’s failures.
“None of us knows what lurks in the heart of any of us,” Jordan
said in his interview with Baptist Press.
“As Christians, when somebody says, ‘I have sinned; I need your
forgiveness; I need your help,’ we need to offer our forgiveness
and walk alongside them to restoration.”
Jordan is scheduled to preach at South Tulsa Baptist Church this
Sunday.
The lewdness charge against Latham is a misdemeanor and carries a
penalty of up to one year in jail and a $2,500 fine. No trial date
has been set.
--30--
Official statements can be found at the following websites:
-- South Tulsa Baptist Church, www.southtulsabaptist.org
-- Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma, www.bgco.org
-- Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee,
www.Baptist2Baptist.net
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