\n<\/p>\n
Willie McLaurin, the acting president of the Southern Baptist Convention\u2019s Executive Committee, resigned suddenly on Thursday after admitting he had falsified his resume.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile considering McLaurin as a candidate for Floyd\u2019s permanent replacement, the SBC Executive Committee\u2019s Presidential Search Team discovered disqualifying information during their process of vetting and due diligence,\u201d said Philip Robertson, chairman of the SBC Executive Committee, in a statement. \u201cMcLaurin\u2019s education credentials that he presented in his resume are false.\u201d <\/p>\n
The statement quoted from McLaurin\u2019s resignation letter, saying he admitted falsifying his resume.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a recent resume that I submitted, it included schools that I did not attend or complete the course of study,\u201d McLaurin reportedly said in resigning. <\/p>\n
According to Baptist Press<\/a>, an official SBC publication, McLaurin claimed<\/a> that he had degrees from North Carolina Central University, Duke University Divinity School, and Hood Theological Seminary on his resume. When presidential search committee members attempted to confirm those degrees, they learned he did not hold those degrees.<\/p>\n McLaurin had been interim president and CEO of the Executive Committee since<\/a> February 2022 and had worked for the Executive Committee since 2020. The committee oversees the business of the nation\u2019s largest Protestant denomination between the SBC\u2019s annual meetings. <\/p>\n McLaurin had been in the running<\/a> for the permanent role as Executive Committee president after the committee rejected<\/a> a different candidate. If he had been named to that post, McLaurin would have been the first Black leader to head a major Southern Baptist entity.<\/p>\n His departure marks another leadership challenge for the Executive Committee. McLaurin became interim president after Ronnie Floyd, the previous president, resigned<\/a> in October 2021 after months of controversy over the SBC\u2019s sex abuse crisis. Floyd\u2019s predecessor, Frank Page, resigned<\/a> in 2018 due to misconduct. <\/p>\n