(11:53:00 AM ET)
The Baptist Blogger has received excerpted video footage that appears to be a portion of the executive session of the Southwestern Seminary trustee meeting held on May 22, 2018, in the Fort Worth campus’s Riley Center. During that meeting, trustees met behind closed doors to discuss the possible termination of Paige Patterson and other matters related to the school’s precipitous decline and financial disarray. Patterson was present for only a portion of the meeting.
As you may have read, one seminary trustee attended the meeting via video conferencing that utilized the seminary’s WiFi to transmit the proceedings over public, non-secure Internet bandwidth. It is unknown, at this time, if an official recording of the meeting was made.
Our legal team is presently evaluating the lawfulness of releasing the captured video, and our videographers are rendering it for publication. We expect to have it ready to publish within the hour.
UPDATE (01:03:00 PM ET)
We are still waiting on our legal team to render an opinion before publication. The Baptist Blogger is committed to the principle of transparency for SBC institutions, agencies, and boards. Our counsel is reviewing all appropriate statutes that govern meetings of non-profit corporations in the State of Texas before we publish the video recording.
UPDATE (01:27:00 PM ET)
Southwestern Seminary has lawyered up. We have just received the following email from a lawyer named Michael Anderson with the firm Kelly, Hart, & Hallman. According to the firm’s website, Mr. Anderson is a Texas “Super Lawyer” whose clients include the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth in a sexual misconduct allegation. That case was dismissed.
UPDATE: 02:07:00 PM VIDEO RELEASE
We have determined to release the video and let the chips fall where they may. After conversation with our counsel, we are satisfied to have determined the lengths to which Southwestern Seminary is willing to go to keep secrets. But transparency is a greater concern to Baptists in these days than threats of legal action. #pwnd
The Baptist Blogger 