Steven Furtick’s Elevation Church withdraws its affiliation with the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) after over 20 years of affiliating with the denomination.
Contrary to Elevation Church’s decision not to make its withdrawal public, the SBC Platform shared on Saturday Twitter post, a copy of the Elevation Church’s letter of disaffiliation dated June 26.
“This letter is to inform you that Elevation Church is withdrawing its affiliation with the Southern Baptist Convention effective immediately. You will find that our Statement of Beliefs on our website is very much in line with the Baptist Faith and Message — we have no intention of changing those core beliefs,” Chunks Corbett, CFO of the North Carolina megachurch, Stated in the letter.
“We have no plans to make a public announcement on this decision — we have too much to do in reaching a world that needs the love of Jesus. Should your Credentials Committee decide to make this decision by Elevation public, we will only respond with a copy of this letter in anyone inquiring about the notification,” he added.
The church’s reason for its withdrawal was not stated in the letter. Denny Burke, a southern Baptist however supposes that it could be consequent to SBC’s recent vote to ban women from serving as “a pastor of any kind.”
“I was today years old when I learned that Steven Furtick’s Elevation Church was a part of the SBC, Burk tweeted They are SBC no more. Reading between the lines here, I suspect that this is a consequence of the clarity from messengers at the New Orleans convention.”
Elevation Church’s withdrawal from affiliation with SBC consequently sprouted varying reactions from individuals.
Christian blogger Michelle Lesley, a Baptist mother who alleged Furtick is a “Scripture twisting, egalitarian, wolf of a false teacher” says “Since Furtick refuses to repent, this is the next best possible outcome.”
Arlington, Texas, Cornerstone Baptist Church founder, Dwight McKissic tweeted “The dominoes are falling, mostly privately, but they’re falling. And they will continue to fall.”