A Q&A with ERLC Trustee Chairman Scott Foshie

On today’s episode, we’re talking with Scott Foshie, chairman of the ERLC’s trustee board. Welcome to The ERLC Podcast where our goal is to help you think biblically about today’s cultural issues.

Whether engaging with issues of life, religious liberty, marriage and family, or human dignity, the ERLC works to ensure that Southern Baptist convictions are at the table in the cultural and policy discussions of our nation’s leaders. This Comission also serves as a resource for Southern Baptist pastors and churches, equipping them to think and respond faithfully in a rapidly changing world.

On today’s episode, we’re joined by Scott Foshie, chairman of the ERLC’s board of trustees, to explore the far-reaching influence of the ERLC—from the halls of Congress to the heart of the local church.

Since 2019, Scott has served as the Church Health Team Leader for the Illinois Baptist State Association. Before joining the state convention staff, Scott pastored churches in Tennessee and Illinois for 20 years. He and his wife, Audra, have been married for 23 years and have three children.

Episode Transcript: A Q&A with ERLC Trustee Chairman Scott Foshie

Narration:

Welcome to the ERLC podcast, where our goal is to help you think biblically about today’s cultural issues. I’m Lindsay Nicolet, and today we’re talking with Scott Foshie, chairman of the ERLC’s Trustee Board. 

Narration:

Whether engaging with issues of life, religious liberty, marriage and family, or human dignity, the ERLC works to ensure that Southern Baptist convictions are at the table in the cultural and policy discussions of our nation’s leaders. This commission also serves as a resource for Southern Baptist pastors and churches, equipping them to think and respond faithfully in a rapidly changing world. On today’s episode, we’re joined by Scott Foshie, chairman of the ERLC’s Board of Trustees, to explore the far reaching influence of the ERLC from the halls of Congress to the heart of the local church. Since 2019, Scott has served as the church health team leader for the Illinois Baptist State Association. Before joining the state convention staff, Scott pastored churches in Tennessee and Illinois for 20 years. He and his wife Audra have been married for 23 years and have three children. Now, let’s turn to my conversation with Scott about the work of the ERLC.

Lindsay Nicolet:

So under Brent’s leadership, how have you seen the ERLC fulfilling its ministry assignment given by the SBC?

Scott Foshie:

Wow, Lindsay, that’s a great question and it may, it kind of takes me back to the first time I was asked by a couple of guys on the SBC nominating committee in 2018. I was a pastor leading a church in Southern Illinois when they asked me to begin serving on the board. And to be honest, I kind of felt bad because once I discovered all the great things the ERLC does, I didn’t realize it at the time, but under Brent’s leadership, particularly under Brent leadership, it’s been incredible to see the Psalm 139 project continue to advance. Putting ultrasound machines in pregnancy centers all over our country promoting life, the defund Planned Parenthood effort, helping the Tennessee Attorney General to fight transgenderism and trying to impose that on minors, I mean, the list just goes on and on and on. I think if Southern Baptists really took a long look at all that the ERLC is doing, they would be amazed, really amazed, at the incredible work being done on their behalf. That’s something that an individual church just can’t do, but because we work together, there’s just a multiplied impact of that. So I would say that’s really what I think about when I think about Brent and you and the whole team and what you do at the ERLC.

Lindsay Nicolet:

Well, we certainly appreciate you as well and your helpful oversight and input. What changes have you seen at the ERLC that have been necessary and have also encouraged you?

Scott Foshie:

So I think I have a unique position because I came on the board in the fall of 2018, so that’s kind of getting toward the end of Dr. Moore administration – appreciate his contributions – but I do think that as Dr. Moore’s administration ended, I was one of the voices on the board for forward-facing improvements that we needed to have. Forward facing improvements about how the staff communicated to the board, forward facing improvements about even our board’s own executive committee. So the executive committee kind of functions as it serves the rest of the board more day-to-day through the year. So as we ended the Moore administration, Lori Bova, the chairperson at the time, and I and Brent, I still remember the conversation Brent had with me about we’re gonna improve these things and making that personal commitment with me. And I was so encouraged.

Scott Foshie:

But you know, we were excited that Brent was gonna be leading our entity, and he immediately began those changes. So we’ve completely redone the bylaws: we took a good long look at how our bylaws operate, and I was on that work group with Lori and others. And I know bylaws might make you feel like you need to start snoring, but bylaws are important and we really made some, I think, important changes that I really wish, Lindsay, that other entities in the SBC would take a look at. Things like making sure the executive committee serves the rest of the board well, but also making sure there’s clear places where “hey, we need to get the whole board to come in and decide this.” Setting really good guidelines, too, about how the executive committee encourages the president and the staff. I’m a pastor now working for a state convention and essentially what I do now is – I have a great job, Lindsay – I get to encourage pastors all over Illinois.

Scott Foshie:

So it’s a big deal for me that the board should encourage the staff, because y’all are involved in spiritual warfare. For people who want to defund Planned Parenthood, I find it ironic that you would want to defund the ERLC the same year that we’re defunding Planned Parenthood. And so, you staff are doing an incredible job and I think you need to be encouraged and supported. So I think we’ve made, I hope we’ve made, progress there. I don’t think we could ever do enough to encourage you. But also I would say we want to be more and more and more responsive to pastors and churches that have differing opinions on these issues. And we’ve got to constantly try to make sure that we represent the consensus of Southern Baptists within the Baptist Faith and Message. And in our social media age, we have tribes all over the American culture, tribes all over the SBC. And sometimes social media may cause us to be misguided in thinking that just because we don’t agree on a hundred percent, that we automatically agree on zero percent. And I think Southern Baptists agree on so much and the ERLC is trying to focus on that, Brent is leading us to focus on that, and that encourages me.

Lindsay Nicolet:

Scott, you mentioned defund Planned Parenthood. What have been some other particular wins of the ERLC that our churches and our pastors should know about?

Scott Foshie:

I mean, again, I mentioned Psalm 139 as well. I think that is probably one of the biggest wins for Southern Baptists that the ERLC does. I was blessed with Rachel Wiles just a couple years ago when we presented an ultrasound machine provided through Psalm 139 to a pregnancy center right here in Illinois in Shelbyville. And if you could have just seen the faces of the volunteers, the directors, and Rachel was so encouraging to them and it was an honor to be there with her to encourage them. But to me that is just a tremendous win. And we need to see a hundred, three hundred, five hundred more as the ERLC continues to lead Southern Baptists in that effort. I think that’s a huge win. Here’s another one: great resources for churches. The ERLC is sending out resources and I believe every SBC church is receiving a print copy of an ERLC printed resource this month on things like gender confusion, religious liberty, God’s design for marriage and family.

Lindsay Nicolet:

Based on your insight into the inner workings of the ERLC, how do the ERLC stances and work line up with the SBC Baptist Faith and Message and with resolutions that messengers have adopted?

Scott Foshie:

That’s a great question, Lindsay. And I think that’s part of the challenge. It’s like when I came on the board as a pastor of one church, you know, I have distinctive positions. There’s things that I would probably agree with Southern Baptists about, but we all have distinctive positions as Southern Baptists. For instance, you know, how many fellowship meals should my church have per year? Or, you know, where should the Lord’s Supper be in this order of service? We all have maybe different ways of doing that, but there’s so much we agree upon, and I would say I wish Southern Baptists knew what a wonderful yet challenging task that is to discover, “where is the Baptist consensus?” And sometimes if you look back across the Southern Baptist Convention’s history, our consensus has changed on things. You know, we were not a pro-life convention before the conservative resurgence back in, was that in, I think in the ‘80s that that really happened.

Scott Foshie:

The conservative resurgence, Lindsay, was all about getting Southern Baptists back to the Bible and we’re anchored in God’s word. And I have personally observed that the ERLC is committed to God’s word, faithful to our biblically conservative values, and that’s where we’re going to stay rooted as we move into the future. And so, the ERLC always has to reflect that consensus. And today we’re reflecting the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, which I love because it’s biblically rooted. And so, I have personally observed the ERLC representing that consensus well, on the area of life. Defunding Planned Parenthood is a literal representation of our values as Southern Baptists. These gender resources, Light magazine, these other resources, they’re all designed to inform Southern Baptists about how they can live out our Baptist Faith and Message 2000 values in the public square. The Supreme Court briefs, all those things, all examples of representing the consensus of Southern Baptists in the public square. Maybe not every little jot and tittle of what each one of us personally believes in some of our distinctive areas, but coming together in the context of our consensus for the sake of winning people to Jesus.

Lindsay Nicolet:

Does the work of the ERLC matter practically for our churches?

Scott Foshie:

Absolutely it does. It matters practically. In fact, what I would say is that the ERLC takes the Gospel and puts shoes on it in a lot of ways. In other words, it’s the living out of the Gospel in the context of the public square. But what’s cool about the ERLC is there’s this public square facing side of the ministry, and we’ve mentioned a lot of that, you know, advocating for Southern Baptists with governmental leaders at the national, state, local level, but also, then, we’re also a church facing ministry and we’re coming alongside our national entities, your state convention, your local association, and we wanna equip you and help you navigate the complexities of culture. I know I have one pastor who called me here in my state of Illinois and said, “man, I’m just so thankful for that gender resource. We had an issue that one of our youth was dealing with, and it was just so helpful.” He was able to provide it to the family, the church was able to look at it, and they were able to handle it lovingly and biblically. And I think that that part of the ERLC’s ministry is how we live out the Gospel and make it practical.

Lindsay Nicolet:

So as someone who has experience with being a pastor, what do you want to say specifically to your fellow pastors about the ERLC?

Scott Foshie:

Lindsay, that is a wonderful question and it’s a question that I hope every pastor will ask about himself. First of all, I would say, “do I really know what I need to know about the ERLC?” I think that’s a good question every pastor should ask. And I would be careful to make sure you get the facts straight from the source. Don’t listen to hype that’s maybe one-sided or one-faceted about the ERLC. Go to the website, go to erlc.com, and I think there’s a great description of all the different ministries that we have. If you’ve got questions, we have a FAQ page that really answers a lot of questions and particularly answers to questions maybe that have been asked about recent years in the ministry and even the positive changes that are happening. And we’ll keep adding to that as we need to because we want you to be fully informed.

Scott Foshie:

So I would say to every pastor, first of all, get the facts. Don’t just listen to one person’s perspective about it. Get the facts. And then I think what you’re going to find and this is what I would like you to know about the ERLC: first of all, it’s a biblically faithful ministry. It’s biblically faithful. I have personally spent significant time with the staff of the ERLC and these are committed Southern Baptists. They affirm the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 and they are representing you well on your behalf. That’s what I want you to know. Secondly, they need some encouragement from you. When you use a resource, you see something, would you just maybe shoot an email, drop a comment on social media, thank them for the good job that they provide? So I would say to my fellow pastors: encourage these faithful servants at the ERLC.

Scott Foshie:

And then thirdly, I would say we need to hear from you. If you see things that are going well, we’d love to hear that. If you see improvements that we need to make, we have a posture of always wanting to be better. I don’t know about you and maybe, Lindsay, you’re perfect, but I’m not. I know you would say you are not perfect; we’re all on the journey together. And pastor, you know that you’re struggling and striving to be more like Jesus like I am. The ERLC wants to be like Jesus and we know we’re gonna need to continually improve. And so, speak into that, but also have a loving Christian spirit and let’s cooperate together for the sake of the Gospel. Southern Baptists from the very beginning had different opinions, and you’ve heard that joke that, “where there’s two Baptists, there’s at least five opinions.”

Scott Foshie:

And I think we need to remember that cooperation means laying aside some smaller differences for the greater mission of the Gospel. And, I would say to my pastor friends, let’s do that. And I think that is the basis for our cooperation at every level in Southern Baptist life, and it’s a beautiful thing. I am so glad God allowed me to, first of all, to know the Gospel and to be saved, but also I’m thankful that he allows me to be a Southern Baptist, and the ERLC is one reason I’m proud to be, and thankful to be, a Southern Baptist.

Lindsay Nicolet:

What are your hopes for the ERLC and its role within the Southern Baptist Convention in the future?

Scott Foshie:

I’m praying that the confidence in the ERLC and that the truth about the ERLC gets out in our SBC culture so much that these motions to defund and abolish become a thing of the past. So I would say that’s one hope that I have. I understand why some people have concerns. I think one of the main reasons there’s concern about the ERLC is people don’t know the real ERLC, and especially as we’ve been making positive change after positive change after positive change. We are not perfect, but we are striving to be more like Jesus. And I think as that gets out, I hope that that will cause these motions to go by the wayside. But beyond that, what I would say is I hope that the ERLC, if Jesus tarries, Lindsay, we need to have at least a hundred, two hundred, however many more years we have until Jesus comes back, we need an ERLC advocating for biblical worldview and Southern Baptist values in the public square.

Scott Foshie:

So I hope the ministry continues to thrive and I hope that in its role within the SBC, I would say that I just hope more and more state conventions, local associations, and our fellow national entities will partner with us in deeper, greater ways, and that we will be able to resource and equip more and more and more as our relationships continue to deepen. And as our ministry continues to advance in a new century. You know, we’re celebrating the hundredth anniversary of the cooperative program, Lindsay. That’s a big deal. So as we move into the second century, I pray that the ERLC has a growing, more effective, expanded role in equipping Southern Baptists, as we navigate the culture that won’t stop changing, but the Bible never changes.

Narration:

As we heard today, the ERLC is dedicated to listening to Southern Baptist churches across the nation and responding with unwavering biblical conviction and practical help. This hundred year old institution, as commissioned by messengers of the Southern Baptist Convention, is committed to making the voice of Southern Baptists heard and standing beside our churches as we bring the light of Jesus Christ to bear on the cultural issues we face today. Thanks for listening to this episode of the ERLC podcast. Join us next time as we look back on a hundred years of cooperation within the Southern Baptist Convention.