October 2, 2026
ORLANDO, Fla. — Newly elected Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission President Evan Lenow told Southern Baptist messengers Tuesday that his leadership of the entity will focus on serving local churches with biblical answers to the moral and ethical questions facing pastors and congregations.
“You do important gospel ministry in these complex and confusing times,” Lenow said. “At the ERLC, we are committed to being a trusted source for biblical answers to the questions you’re facing.”
Lenow, who began serving full-time on June 1, joined outgoing interim president Gary Hollingsworth during the ERLC report at the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting. Hollingsworth used his portion of the report to summarize the entity’s recent work, then introduced Lenow and his wife, Melanie, to the messengers.
Lenow, 47, was unanimously elected by ERLC trustees in April after a seven-month search. Before coming to the ERLC, he served at Mississippi College as director of the Institute for Christian Leadership, director of Church and Minister Relations, and chair of the Christian Studies Department. He previously served at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and has been a research fellow in Christian ethics for the ERLC since 2012.
In his first report to messengers as president, Lenow emphasized his lifelong connection to Southern Baptist churches.
“The SBC is part of my DNA,” he said, noting that he grew up sitting under the preaching of Adrian Rogers at Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tenn. He also pointed to the influence of his mother, who led women’s ministry at Bellevue, and his father, who served as a deacon and children’s Sunday school teacher for more than 40 years.
“It’s not an understatement to say that I would not be where I am both personally and professionally without this convention of churches,” Lenow said. “Because I learned to love the local church through my discipleship in Southern Baptist churches.”
Lenow said his experience has included teaching third-grade Sunday school, serving as a deacon, preaching in churches of various sizes, teaching at multiple seminaries, and participating in mission trips connected to International Mission Board missionaries. He added that one of his favorite experiences in a Southern Baptist church was teaching senior adult Vacation Bible School.
Asked how Rogers’ legacy would shape his leadership, Lenow said the longtime Bellevue pastor’s influence was rooted most deeply in a commitment to God’s Word. “Those of you who knew him and knew his preaching knew that it was driven by Scripture and it was driven by the Word,” Lenow said.
Lenow added that the ERLC’s task is not merely to comment on issues, but to help churches answer difficult questions from the Bible and apply those answers in congregational life.
“The answers that we’re offering to the difficult questions we’re facing today at the ERLC, those answers are driven by God’s Word,” he said. “We want to be bound to Scripture first and to say the way to answer the most pressing moral questions of our day is to turn to the pages of Scripture, to see what they say and apply those to our lives.”
That approach, he said, will shape the resources the ERLC produces for pastors and churches.
“At the ERLC,” he continued, “we’re going to go to the text and say, what does it mean? And then we’re going to offer resources that say this is how we apply them in the context of the local church.”
Hollingsworth, who has served as interim president since October, said his months at the ERLC gave him a deeper appreciation for the entity’s work. Before becoming interim president, Hollingsworth served as a pastor and as executive director-treasurer of the South Carolina Baptist Convention.
“I knew about the ERLC, but I really had very little knowledge about all the behind-the-scenes work that they did,” Hollingsworth said. “I now, in these months, have come to have a much better understanding of and appreciation for the importance of this entity.”
Hollingsworth said the ERLC’s staff has “an incredible heart to serve SBC pastors and churches” and a desire to add value to local church ministry.
He summarized the entity’s recent work in three categories: supporting pastors, standing for truth, and serving churches.
Hollingsworth highlighted the ERLC’s work alongside GuideStone on the Clergy Act, which he said would allow ministers who previously opted out of Social Security to voluntarily opt back in during a two-year window if the legislation is approved by the U.S. Senate.
“This will be a huge win, potentially, for many pastors,” Hollingsworth said.
He also pointed to the ERLC’s public policy advocacy, saying the entity speaks where Southern Baptists have already spoken. Among recent efforts, he cited advocacy in a Supreme Court case involving First Choice Women’s Resource Centers, calling the court’s unanimous decision a significant win for First Amendment rights and freedom of association.
Hollingsworth also noted the ERLC’s ongoing work through the Psalm 139 Project, including the placement of its 100th ultrasound machine at a pregnancy ministry center in North Carolina. He said the project reflects a partnership among local churches, associations, and state conventions.
On issues affecting children, Hollingsworth said the ERLC has supported legislation addressing artificial intelligence, chatbot safety, online pornography, and so-called gender-transition treatments for minors.
He also said the entity is working to provide practical resources to churches. During the past year, the ERLC mailed resource guides to churches on artificial intelligence and dual citizenship.
“In order to better equip your church and your ministry, we are committed to producing relevant resources to help pastors and leaders be better prepared to answer ethical and moral issues with biblical clarity and with confidence,” Hollingsworth said.
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