Jerry Sutton

Jerry Sutton, Two Rivers Baptist Church

Dr. Jerry Sutton is a Southern Baptist pastor and historian. He served at Two Rivers Baptist Church, in Nashville, Tennessee. The church averaged approximately 2,000 in average weekly attendance over the course of his pastorate. He served as the first vice president (June 2005 - June 2006) of the Southern Baptist Convention. Sutton's theology is best described as conservative and evangelical. Sutton's retired from Two Rivers on August 3, 2008 after 22 years as its pastor.

Biography

During the 2006 Tennessee Baptist Convention, Sutton led a movement amongst Tennessee Baptist to affirm the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 edition when he proposed that all appointees of the Convention’s Committee on Committees and the Convention’s Committee on Boards be asked if they affirmed the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 edition.

In June 2006 Sutton announced he would allow himself to be nominated for the Presidency of the Southern Baptist Convention after being repeatedly asked to run by other Southern Baptist. He made this announcement only a few days prior to the election at the Southern Baptist Convention in Greensboro. He ran against two other candidates, Frank Page of South Carolina and Ronnie Floyd of Arkansas. Sutton placed third with 24.08% of the overall vote.

On August 14, 2005, Dr. Sutton and Two Rivers hosted Justice Sunday II.

His August 25, 2005 appearance on Hardball with Chris Matthews (MSNBC) brought a barrage of media attention—he admitted that while he had read the transcript of Pat Robertson's statements he had not watched Pat Roberton's television segment when Robertson advocated assassinating Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.

Sutton stated that Robertson was "speaking off the cuff" as a "frustrated American, more than an evangelical leader." Sutton used the language: "tak[ing] him out", instead of stating that Robertson advocated "assassination." Sutton went on to state that "what [Robertson] said was wrong."

In addition to appearing on Hardball, Sutton hosted Matthews at Two Rivers Church on June 28, 2005 for a show discussing religion in U.S. politics.

Dr. Sutton has published two books: The Baptist Reformation, which is a history of the conservative resurgence within the Southern Baptist Convention and The Way Back Home, which tells of how "to begin again with God."

In 2007, a dissident group of about 75 within Two Rivers Church accused Jerry Sutton of misappropriating church funds. For example, it was alleged that the church paid $4,000 toward the wedding reception of Jerry Sutton's daughter, that he used money for personal trips, and a $1 million gift was not properly accounted. The membership of church trustee Frank Harris was revoked.[1][2]

Sutton filed a $600,000 lawsuit for libel against Harris, while the 75 church members sued for removal of Sutton as director and release of financial records.[3] Sutton voluntarily resigned from office and membership dwindled from several thousand down to 850, resulting in Two Rivers Baptist rebranding itself as the Fellowship at Two Rivers. The facility itself is being sold off in favor of smaller satellite locations.[4]

Sutton is married to Fern, a professional Christian therapist, and has two daughters: Ashli, who is a licensed Tennessee attorney, and Hilary, who is a professional actress.

References

• Tenn. convention affirms Baptist Faith and Message 2000
• Two Rivers pastor runs for Baptist presidency
• Jerry Sutton Enters SBC Presidential Race
• Frank Page elected SBC president
• On Hardball, Rev. Jerry Sutton denied Robertson said "assassinate"

External links

• Two Rivers Baptist Church