Nashville, Tenn., Oct. 21, 2021—The Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission Acting President Brent Leatherwood will present an ERLC Religious Liberty Award to Griffin Gulledge, pastor of Madison Baptist Church in Madison, Ga., during a special ceremony on Oct. 24.
Gulledge was nominated for his significant work in drafting the SBC resolution entitled, “Resolution 8: On The Uyghur Genocide,” which the messengers to the Annual Meeting unanimously passed this June. With the resounding affirmation of the resolution, the SBC became the first denomination to condemn the Chinese Communist Party for the genocide of the Uyghur people.
“On behalf of the ERLC, I am honored to present Griffin Gulledge with the 2021 John Leland Religious Liberty Award for his exemplary service in helping raise awareness of the atrocities happening to the Uyghur people in China,” said Leatherwood. “Gulledge is a faithful pastor who has advocated for religious liberty across the globe and we proudly stand alongside him in upholding the dignity of every human life as fellow image bearers of Christ.”
The ceremony will be held on Sunday, Oct. 24 at 6:00 p.m. EST at the Madison-Morgan Cultural Center in Madison, where Leatherwood will present Gulledge with the award amongst members of his church and community. Dr. Jimmy Patterson, ERLC trustee and minister of biblical and theological research at First Baptist Church Newnan in Newnan, Ga., will also attend on behalf of the ERLC trustees and provide remarks about the heart of Southern Baptists for human dignity at the ceremony.
Each year at the ERLC’s board of trustees meeting, the trustees select a candidate to receive the John Leland Religious Liberty Award. This year, the ERLC awarded two individuals with this award: Mark Dever, pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., and Griffin Gulledge.
