Paul Pressler, a leading figure of the Southern Baptist Convention who was accused of sexual abuse and later settled a lawsuit over the allegations, has died
HOUSTON (AP) — Paul Pressler, a leading figure of the Southern Baptist Convention who was accused of sexually abusing boys and young men and later settled a lawsuit over the allegations, has died. He was 94.
Pressler’s death, which happened on June 7, was announced in an obituary posted online by Geo. H. Lewis and Sons Funeral Home in Houston. A funeral service for Pressler was held on Saturday. A cause of death was not disclosed.
Pressler was one of the co-architects of the Southern Baptist Convention’s “conservative resurgence,” an effort in the 1980s that reshaped the direction of America’s largest Protestant denomination. Pressler and others pushed out more liberal leaders, helped forge an alliance between white evangelicals and Republican conservatism and focused on electing GOP candidates to public office.