Russell Moore

Russell Moore was born (1971) and raised in the coastal town of Biloxi, Mississippi, the eldest son of Gary Moore and Renee Moore. He earned a B.S. in political science and history from the University of Southern Mississippi, an M.Div. in biblical studies from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. in systematic theology from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.He is president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention and a Council member of The Gospel Coalition. He has authored many books, including Onward: Engaging the Culture without Losing the Gospel and The Storm-Tossed Family: How the Cross Reshapes the Home.^[1]

Political background and involvement

In the early 1990s, prior to entering the ministry, Russell Moore was an aide to U.S. Representative Gene Taylor of Mississippi, a Democrat

"Leftward to Scofield"

Jets 47/3 (September 2004) Russell Moore, Dean of the School of Theology and senior vice president for academic administration at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary published an essay "Leftward to Scofield: The eclipse of the Kingdom in Post-conservative Evangelical Theology".^[2]

Career

Moore served as a youth minister at his home church, Woolmarket Baptist Church, while in seminary, and then as associate pastor of Bay Vista Baptist Church in Biloxi, where he was ordained to gospel ministry.

In 2001, Moore was appointed to the faculty of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. As Professor of Christian Theology and Ethics, Moore was responsible for teaching across a spectrum of topics including systematic theology, Christian ethics, church life, pastoral ministry, and cultural engagement. In addition to his role on the faculty, he also served as Executive Director of the Carl F. H. Henry Institute for Evangelical Engagement from 2001 to 2009.

In 2004, Moore was named Dean of the School of Theology and Senior Vice President for Academic Administration. In this role, in addition to his regular teaching and lecturing, Moore served as the chief academic officer of the seminary, responsible for all curriculum and the administration of the seminary. Beyond these roles, Moore served as Executive Editor of The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology, and has served as Senior Editor for Touchstone Magazine and as Chairman of the Board for the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood.

Moore is also an active churchman and denominational servant; from 2008 to 2012 he served as a full-time teaching pastor at Highview Baptist Church, where he preached weekly and also taught an adult Bible study class. More broadly, Moore has served extensively within the Southern Baptist Convention, as chairman and four-time member of the Resolutions committee, as a member of the Ethics and Public Affairs Committee of the Kentucky Baptist Convention, and as a regular correspondent and columnist for Baptist Press.

Moore's book Onward: Engaging the Culture Without Losing the Gospel, was awarded the "Beautiful Orthodoxy Book of the Year" award from Christianity Today.^[3]

Admiring Richard Mouw

Dialog with Ron Sider

In this episode of Signposts, I am joined by Palmer Theological Seminary professor Ronald Sider, Founder and President Emeritus of Evangelicals for Social Action. In this conversation we talk about the importance of integrity for starting, maintaining, and ending a ministry. We also discuss the danger in viewing people based on what they can do for us, rather than through the lens of the Gospel.^[4]

Russell Moore at the National Immigration Forum

Jeff Pickering, Russell Moore, Cherie Harder, Michael Wear, And Campaign, National Immigration Forum. @jeffpickering A conversation with @drmoore of @ERLC and @CherieHarder of @trinityforum moderated by @MichaelRWear of @AndCampaign on immigration, culture, and the ever growing need for civil discourse on these issues. #LeadingTheWay19

November 7, 2019.

Evangelical Leader Statement of Principles on Dreamers

The Evangelical Leader Statement of Principles on Dreamers was issued Oct 5, 2017.

Christians, like most Americans, recognize immigration policy is complex and the search for political consensus is difficult. While we feel the tension between our obligations to both Christian compassion and respect for the rule of law, we reject the idea that the two are irreconcilable. Accepting this false dichotomy perpetuates an immigration system which all Americans agree is broken...

Signatories included Russell Moore.

Just Gospel 2020

Russell Moore was a speaker at Just Gospel 2020.^[5]

Leftist resolutions

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (BP) -- Messengers to the 2019 Southern Baptist Convention advocated for the vulnerable against abortion, sexual abuse and religious persecution in approving 13 resolutions Wednesday.

Curtis Woods (left), chairman of the Southern Baptist Convention Resolutions Committee, and Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, speak during a press conference after the conclusion of the 2019 Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting

The resolutions also addressed a variety of other noteworthy issues in the convention and the world, including local church autonomy, same-sex attraction, justice, women in the military draft and gene editing.

On abortion, the messengers applauded the recent enactment of state laws to restrict or prohibit abortion and called for the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized the lethal procedure.

In a meeting that made the sexual abuse crisis in the SBC a priority, messengers passed a resolution that condemned and lamented all such abuse and called on churches and institutions to establish a safe culture for survivors and to guard against and confront abuse.

Messengers also approved a measure in which they pledged to pray for the end of persecution in China and North Korea and called on the United States and the international community to make religious freedom a "top priority."

Curtis Woods, chairman of the 10-member Resolutions Committee, told reporters the "overarching theme" of the panel's report "would have been protection -- protection of the unborn as well as protection of those who could find themselves vulnerable to sexual abuse, as well as just keeping the Gospel of Jesus Christ first, advancing the Gospel, being concerned about the Great Commission."

The Great Commission of Jesus Christ is vertical, horizontal and cosmological, he said in a news conference. "God will make all things new in Christ Jesus. And all things will be summed up in Christ. The Gospel pushes us to protect and to love our neighbors well."

Woods is co-interim executive director of the Kentucky Baptist Convention and a member of Watson Memorial Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky.

Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), commended the committee's work in the news conference, saying it gave the messengers a group of "carefully thought-through resolutions that Southern Baptists could speak through, to speak to ourselves and to the larger world."

All the resolutions except one passed in unanimous or near-unanimous votes. A resolution on critical race theory and intersectionality still gained passage with a strong majority.

The resolution affirmed the Bible as "the first, last, and sufficient authority" regarding how the church tries to amend social evils and said critical race theory and intersectionality should only be used in submission to Scripture. The resolution described critical race theory as a set of tools to explain how race functions in society and intersectionality as the study of how various characteristics overlap.

Tom Ascol, senior pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Cape Coral, Fla., sought to amend the resolution, including with language to say critical race theory and intersectionality are "rooted in ideologies that are incompatible with Christianity."

Woods told the messengers in response, "What we are saying is that this can be utilized simply as an analytical tool, not a transcendent worldview above the authority of Scripture, and we stand by the strength of this resolution."

Messengers also approved resolutions in which they:

Reaffirmed the doctrine of local church autonomy under Christ's lordship and rejected its use as a way to conceal the sins of pastors and others in the church who are guilty of abuse.
Urged Christians who battle same-sex attraction "to forsake any self-conception or personal identity that is contrary to God's good and holy purposes in creation and redemption" and commended the "faithful witness" of such disciples who walk in obedience to Jesus.
Promised to oppose "a divisive spirit" and to develop a "cooperative culture" for the fulfillment of the Great Commission.
Committed to respond to injustices by Gospel proclamation, advocacy for oppressed people, acting with justice personally and demanding that "spheres of society" function righteously, truthfully and lovingly.
Renewed their commitment to the Great Commission and encouraged the convention's seminaries, entities and churches to enable pastors to understand "how culture and contexts shape ministry methods and strategies."
Called for the president and Congress to refuse to extend the military draft to include women.
Denounced human germline editing and called on Congress and international policy makers to make it unfundable and illegal.
Confirmed their commitment to Christ over a political party and acknowledged the various political affiliations and viewpoints in the convention's churches.
Expressed gratitude to God, as well as Southern Baptists in the Birmingham area and all others who helped with this year's meeting.

Messengers approved two extensions of time for a total of 15 minutes in order to complete action on the resolutions.

The committee chose not to act on proposals submitted on the moral character of government officials, reconciliation with Jewish people because of a lack of concern by the SBC during the Holocaust period, peace between the United States and Iran, and the freedom of conscience of whistleblowers in the SBC.

Keith Whitfield, vice president for academic administration at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., served as vice chair of the committee. He is a member of Faith Baptist Church in Youngsville, N.C.

In addition to Woods and Whitfield, the committee members, in alphabetical order, were: Tremayne Manson, associate pastor for community development and outreach, The Summit Church, Raleigh-Durham, N.C.; Adron Robinson, senior pastor, Hillcrest Baptist Church, Country Club Hills, Ill.; Walter Strickland, associate vice president for diversity, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Wake Forest, N.C., and member of Imago Dei Church, Raleigh, N.C.; Angela Suh Um, founder and chief consultant, Boston Academic Consulting Group, Cambridge, Mass., and member of Antioch Baptist Church, Cambridge; Trevin Wax, Bible and reference publisher, B&H Academic Group, LifeWay Christian Resources, Nashville, and teaching pastor, Third Baptist Church, Murfreesboro, Tenn.; Jared Wellman, pastor, Tate Springs Baptist Church, Arlington, Texas; Rick Wheeler, lead missional strategist, Jacksonville Baptist Association, Jacksonville, Fla., and member of Mandarin Baptist Church, Jacksonville; and Alicia Wong, director of women's programs, Gateway Seminary, Ontario, Calif., and member of Rosena Church, San Bernardino, Calif.^[6]

Courageous Conversations Conference

The Courageous Conversations Conference (C3) was s a one day event designed to teach and challenge the local church in the proclamation and demonstration of the gospel. C3 provides a Biblical framework to resolve the racial tensions that prevent addressing the spiritual and material needs of a community. Attendees will leave with an understanding of how to share the gospel while not ignoring needs and how to meet needs while not compromising the gospel.

It was held Saturday, September 16, 2017 at The Impact Center/Word Tabernacle Church 821 Word Plaza Rocky Mount, NC.

Keynote speakers were:

Dr. Russell Moore, 8th President of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Dr. John M. Perkins, Civil Rights Leader & Founder of the John and Vera Mae Perkins Foundation-Jackson, MS.
Noel Castellanos, CEO of the Christian Community Development Association.^[7]

Hobby Lobby and religious liberty

June 9 2014 Russell Moore, Rick Warren, Samuel Rodriguez, David Platt served on a panel at the Hilton Baltimore "Hobby Lobby and the future of Religious liberty".

Co-laborers

Michael Wear

November 10, 2017 "To those I consider co-laborers"

Christianity belongs to no man. The church belongs to no man. It all belongs to Jesus. Some may have forgotten this, but let us never forget. Let us never forget that the way this world counts power and influence means nothing to our God. He will settle all accounts, we can be sure of that. This year, the story we have allowed to be told about us is what we are in reaction to the hucksters and the charlatans, but all the while we have been seeking to live a different story: who are we in relation to Christ? What are we building?

We have built so much this year as we live out our callings, as we pursue Jesus who is the standard-bearer of our faith.

I see what Jemar Tisby and Tyler Burns are building: a bold, Christ-centered Witness that is neither ashamed of the gospel, nor timid in the face of injustice.

I see what Michelle Higgins, Christina Edmondson and Ekemini Uwan are building as they generate new power through their work that is redirecting stagnant waters, and carving out new territory for Christ to work His will.

I see what Ann Voskamp is building as she stewards her influence to raise money for a radical, Preemptive Love. I saw her on a cold February morning protesting outside of a hotel where political leaders would gather to publicly pray while denying welcome to the stranger.

I see Sharon Hodde Miller and Tish Harrison Warren and Alan Noble and Duke Kwon and Scott Sauls and Sarah TheBarge and Ray Chang and Sho Baraka and Laura Turner and Trillia Newbell and Beth Moore and Charlie Dates and Wesley Hill and Matthew Loftus and Sarah Bessey and Russell Moore and Justin Giboney and on and on and on.

I see young Christians in politics who want to build their careers by faithfulness, not utilitarian power-grabbing.

I see seminary students who are pursuing sound doctrine and sound practice, who believe the gospel is for all of life and will preach a gospel that changes everything.

I see young Christians in “secular” fields who are neither arrogant because of their faith nor ashamed of it, but believe in living a life of integrated integrity in light of the security they find in Christ.^[8]

Immigration meeting

President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and eight Christian leaders met in the Oval Office on Nov. 13 2013to discuss the faith community's role in passing immigration reform.

Jim Wallis, president of Sojourners, a progressive Christian social justice group, said that the meeting did not dwell on the specifics of the political challenges facing reform, but rather was the result of the president's curiosity on how the issue had been discussed within the faith community.

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"It was a conversation with President Obama about immigration reform and how this has really united the faith community across our boundaries," Wallis told The Christian Post.

According to a White House press release, Obama "and the leaders discussed their shared commitment to raise the moral imperative for immigration reform and said they will continue keeping the pressure on Congress so they can swiftly pass commonsense reform."

Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, who was also present at the meeting, praised Obama for "taking time to listen and dialogue on an issue of concern to many of us" and said that immigration seemed to be one of the few issues that transcended the politically divided United States.

"My message to the president is that there are many things that divide us as a country, but on this issue we have a remarkable consensus that the system is broken and the government isn't doing its job to keep the border secure, to shore up the economic health of the country, and to keep track of who is and isn't legally here," said Moore in a statement from the Evangelical Immigration Table.

Gabriel Salguero, president of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition, was grateful that the president had created space for leaders to "express the urgency the evangelical community feels around immigration reform."

"It was important to express our ongoing commitment to a bipartisan solution. We hope that our legislators continue to hear our prayers and listen to their constituents, who overwhelmingly favor commonsense immigration reform," said Salguero in a statement.

Wallis said he believes that fear is one of the largest impediments keeping legislators from politically supporting immigration reform.

"By 2050 most Americans will come from Africa, Latin America or Asia … which will mean we will not be a majority white culture. We will be a majority minority country. Many white people are afraid of losing their country and they don't want that to happen."

Wallis said that Christians played a critical role in alleviating the country's apprehension by demonstrating that "the body of Christ is intrinsically multi-racial."

Wallis also refuted criticisms that had been levied at Evangelical leaders earlier this year for promoting a political position not held by their congregations, conceding that the criticism may have been valid three to five years ago, but no longer applied.

"If you took a vote of Evangelicals on immigration reform, we would pass it," he said.

Wallis encouraged Christians to pray with their representatives about the issue and consider fasting, adding that it was important that predominantly white constituencies voice these concerns to their representatives on behalf of minority immigrants living in the same community.

He also stressed that it was essential that church leadership articulate their church's position on immigration reform to their representatives.

"[We need to have] pastors calling representatives saying 'I'm from your district. We have a church of 5,000 people. We're watching [immigration reform] carefully," said Wallis.

Other Christian leaders at the meeting were Hyepin Im, president and CEO of the California-based Korean Churches for Community Development, Eusebio Elizondo, auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Seattle, Leith Anderson, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, Joel Hunter, a Florida senior pastor at Northland and an Obama advisor, and Mike McClenahan, a California senior pastor at Solana Beach Presbyterian Church.^[9]

Also present were Valerie Jarrett, Cecilia Munoz, Melissa Rogers, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Gautam Raghavan.

Promoting Illegal Immigration & Refugee Resettlement

Russell Moore signed a letter to President Trump written by World Relief.^[10] titled "Top evangelical leaders and pastors from all 50 states urge action to help vulnerable immigrants" which lamented a decrease in refugees entering the United States, and requested amnesty for DACA recipients.

Letter

"Dear President Trump and Members of Congress,

"As Christian leaders, we have a commitment to caring for the vulnerable in our churches while also supporting just, compassionate and welcoming policies toward refugees and other immigrants. The Bible speaks clearly and repeatedly to God’s love and concern for the vulnerable, and also challenges us to think beyond our nationality, ethnicity or religion when loving our neighbor.

"We are committed to praying for you, our elected leaders, just as Scripture mandates (1 Timothy 2:1-2). In particular, we pray that you will not forget the following people as you craft our nation’s laws and policies:

"Dreamers. Roughly 700,000 young people are poised to lose their right to work lawfully in the U.S., not to mention their dreams of a future in this country—the country they were brought to as children, without choice. Our prayer is that these young people would be allowed to continue contributing to our society without fear of deportation.

"Refugees. We are troubled by the dramatic reduction in arrivals of refugees to the United States, which declined from 96,874 in 2016 to just 33,368 in 2017. Based on arrivals so far in this fiscal year, the United States is on track to admit the lowest number of refugees since the formalization of the U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program in 1980. This, at a time when there are more refugees in the world than ever before in recorded history. Our prayer is that the U.S. would continue to be a beacon of hope for those fleeing persecution.

"Persecuted Christians. Refugees of all faiths and nationalities deserve our welcome, for they (like all human beings) are made in the image of God. We are particularly aware, though, of the Christian refugees and other minorities facing persecution in countries like Iraq, Iran and Syria. Admission of Christian refugees to the U.S. from these three countries has declined by 60%. We pray that those facing religious persecution would be protected overseas as well as in the U.S.

"Families Waiting for Reunification. God ordained the family as the cornerstone of society, and we believe that our country is stronger when our citizens can be quickly reunited with their close family members. For some U.S. citizens, the waiting period can be years or even decades. We pray you will respect the unity of the family.

"We are mindful of the difficulty of serving in public office and are grateful for your service. We ask that God would grant you wisdom and courage as you confront these and various other complex policy issues in the days and months ahead.

Signatories

External links

World Relief Website

References

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[6] Resolutions from SBC contend for vulnerable, Gospel Kentucky Today Posted Thursday, June 13, 2019 10:19 am By TOM STRODE, Baptist Press

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[10] Top evangelical leaders and pastors from all 50 states urge action to help vulnerable immigrants., accessed March 2 2018

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