A recently-released list of commitments by trustees of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission to Southern Baptists was drafted over the last month, chairman Scott Foshie told Baptist Press, but marks the latest step in a longer process.

Gary Hollingsworth has been elected to serve as the interim president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission by the organization’s trustees. The ERLC board of trustees voted unanimously to appoint Hollingsworth to this role during an afternoon session of the trustee’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C., today. Miles Mullin will remain and serve as the executive vice president and chief of staff.

Trustees for the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission selected seven from their group, Aug. 14, as the team to search for the entity’s next president.

Brent Leatherwood has resigned as president of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, ending nearly nine years of service that began in 2017 as director of strategic partnerships. Former Hannibal-LaGrange University professor Miles Mullin, who left Missouri in 2023 to become ERLC vice president and chief of staff, was appointed to the role of ERLC acting president, effective July 31, ERLC trustees said.

Members of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission’s executive committee acknowledged on July 23 that the events of the previous 24 hours brought confusion and frustration as conflicting press releases tried to clarify that Brent Leatherwood is still at the helm of the SBC entity.

Southern Baptist pastor Kevin Smith announced Tuesday morning, June 23, that he has resigned as chairman and from the board of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. Smith’s resignation comes on the heels of a turbulent 24 hours for the Southern Baptist public policy entity.