Southwestern Baptist Theological president Paige Patterson has been pushed into the position of "president emeritus" following a month in a media firestorm after his comments on abused women surfaced.
After a 13-hour meeting on Tuesday that stretched into the early hours of the next morning, the seminary's trustees made a few announcements in minutes, including Patterson's new position and that the interim presidency would be offered to Jeffrey Bingham, dean of the seminary's school of theology.
Patterson was not in the final meeting when this was announced.
The meeting also addressed two other points that came out of the Patterson controversy. While the trustees met on Tuesday, The Washington Post published an article alleging that Patterson told a woman who said she'd been raped not to report it to police and to forgive her assailant.
The trustees said "evidence exists" that Patterson complied with reporting laws, which they had found after an investigation.
It's unclear exactly how the trustees conducted their investigation. Charles Patrick, who handles communications for the seminary, said he was not able to comment directly after the meeting. He was unable to answer questions as to when he would be able to answer questions.
The trustees also resolved the issue of the firing of Nathan Montgomery, who worked at the seminary and says he was fired for tweeting a comment critical of Patterson. They resolved that they had found no evidence of misconduct in Montgomery's personnel file.
