Judge Dismisses Most Claims Against SBC Leaders in David Sills Suit, Orders Settlement Conference

A federal judge has dismissed most of the claims in a lawsuit brought by David Sills, a former professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, against Southern Baptist Convention leaders. The decision was issued September 29, according to MinistryWatch and Baptist Standard. Judge William Campbell of the U.S. District Court for Middle Tennessee dismissed most of the claims, postponed the trial that had been scheduled for November, and ordered a judicial settlement conference to address the remaining disputes.

Sills was dismissed from the seminary in 2018 after Jennifer Lyell accused him of abuse. The lawsuit names SBC leaders including former SBC presidents Bart Barber and Ed Litton, Al Mohler, the SBC Executive Committee, and the investigative firm Guidepost, along with Lyell. According to MinistryWatch, Sills sued in 2023 and alleged defamation, conspiracy to defame, negligence, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Biblical Recorder reports that Sills filed in November 2022 and alleged that a Guidepost Solutions report spread a false narrative about him and his relationship with Lyell. The reports differ on the filing date, and the court filings are not quoted in the sources.

Lyell had stated in a deposition that Sills coerced her into sexual acts without her consent, according to MinistryWatch. Sills has denied wrongdoing in the sources’ accounts of his claims, but the sources do not detail that denial further. Biblical Recorder reports that Lyell died in June 2025. MinistryWatch, published in September 2025, says she died at age 47 “last year,” which would place her death in 2024. The sources do not resolve this discrepancy. Biblical Recorder also reports that Lyell’s estate was removed from the lawsuit the year after her death.

On September 11, Sills filed a motion seeking a settlement conference in early October, according to Biblical Recorder. The defendants have indicated they are not interested in such a proceeding, the report says. The motion also asserts that the SBC has recently taken positions aligning with Sills’ allegations and evidence. The sources do not describe those positions or the court’s response beyond the ruling summarized above. Judge Campbell’s order for a settlement conference, as reported, addresses the disputes that remain after the dismissal, a process that calls for careful weighing of what each side can establish, in keeping with Proverbs 18:17.

Biblical Recorder also reports on public comments about the broader investigation. In March 2025, Florida pastor Willy Rice posted on X that the Department of Justice investigation of the SBC had been a “snipe hunt.” Rice also described sexual abuse as having been “weaponized” within the SBC during a press conference after his election as SBC president in June 2026. Biblical Recorder gives that date as written, which is later than the other reports’ dates, and the sources do not clarify it.