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OBU—Oklahoma Baptist University

Whitlock Named Senior Fellow of ERLC Research Institute

August 11, 2014

OBU President Dr. David W. Whitlock has been named a Senior Research Fellow for the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) of the Southern Baptist Convention. The ERLC recently announced the launch of the new Research Institute under the direction of its president, Russell Moore, including the appointment of new scholars and professionals as research fellows, including Whitlock. The Research Institute and its fellows will assist the ERLC in its mission by producing a variety of materials to equip Southern Baptists and churches to engage ethical and cultural issues of the day.

"The aim of the Research Institute is to be a catalyst to connect the agenda of the gospel to the complex questions of the day-and to do so at the highest levels of academic scholarship for the good of local congregations," Moore said. "I am thrilled to get to work together with an exceptionally gifted band of scholars and leaders as we seek to be a persuasive, prophetic witnesses engaging the academy and equipping the church."

The Southern Baptist Convention is America's largest Protestant denomination with more than 15.8 million members in over 46,000 churches nationwide. The ERLC is the SBC's ethics, religious liberty and public policy entity with offices in Nashville, Tennessee. and Washington, D.C.

The newly named fellows come from all six Southern Baptist seminaries, several Baptist colleges, private and public universities and other prominent institutions such as the Heritage Foundation and the American Center for Law and Justice.

"I am pleased and honored to serve the ERLC and Southern Baptists in this role," Whitlock said. "Oklahoma Baptist University has a prominent voice in our denomination and provides leadership around the globe in issues of ethics and theology. I'm humbled to serve and excited to see how the Lord uses this group of scholars to further His work."

Barrett Duke, the ERLC vice president for public policy and research, directs the Research Institute. Andrew Walker, the ERLC director of policy studies, serves as the Institute's associate director.

The Research Institute will hold its annual meeting in conjunction with the ERLC National Conference at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee, Oct. 27-29.

A review of the newly named fellows is available at the ERLC website.