Southern Baptists End Investigation of Theology Professors at Kentucky University

(UPDATED) University cuts ties with state convention even though convention investigation concluded theologically conservative professors were welcome at Campbellsville University.

Update (July 16, 2014): Campbellsville University announced today that the university would phase out funding from the Kentucky Baptist Convention (KBC) and pursue a “partners in ministry” relationship with the denomination that allows them to “maintain CU’s academic freedom,” according to a letter signed by Michael Carter, the university’s president, and Joseph Owens, chair of the CU board of trustees.

The school, which operates on a $57 million budget, currently receives $977,000 annually from the convention and would transition away from the funding over four years, according to The State.

KBC president Chip Hutcheson said in a press release that the university had adopted bylaws inconsistent with the KBC’s covenant agreement.

“The statement released by Campbellsville brings to mind the husband who wants to divorce his wife but still offers to live with her,” Hutcheson said. “The university has taken steps to remove itself from a covenant relationship yet still wants to claim it is ‘committed’ to the family.”

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Update (June 4): Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), is still “very disturbed” despite the resolution between the school and the Kentucky Baptist Convention, reports World Magazine’s Thomas Kidd. He writes:

Russell Moore, however, says that the college’s response to Williams’ situation spouts “vague pieties about wholesome Christian education,” while they force out “even the most token representation of conservative evangelical scholarship.” He is concerned that Campbellsville may want a “liberal faculty but conservative students and dollars.”

Campbellsville president Michael …