“That’s the reason why you’re the only one I have talked to. “I do not think the courtroom or the press is the place where Christians need to discuss their differences,” said Patterson, adding that the interview would be his only public comment on the matter. In a phone conversation with Baptist Press, Patterson denied the allegations and expressed dismay over the public nature of the dispute. The allegations are detailed in the seminary’s response to the referral of a motion made during the 2019 SBC Annual Meeting.
The seminary also alleges that Patterson, his wife Dorothy, and others working with them “have continued to use institutional records for their own personal benefit and to the detriment of the seminary.” Southwestern alleges that documents including “confidential donor information, student records, institutional correspondence, financial records, historical files, and meeting and Convention records” were taken from the president’s home. Greenway, who succeeded Patterson as Southwestern’s president, asserted: “Southwestern Seminary has told the truth.” He also denies that he and others have attempted to divert donations away from the seminary to the Sandy Creek Foundation, his personal nonprofit organization. FORT WORTH, Texas (BP) – Former Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary President Paige Patterson is disputing allegations made by the seminary in the 2021 SBC Book of Reports that documents and other items belonging to the seminary were “improperly removed” from the campus after his firing in 2018.