SBC Spokesman Disavows Former Official’s Remarks on Praying for Obama’s Death

NASHVILLE — A Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) spokesman said June 4 that a former denominational official who is praying for the death of President Obama is outside the denomination’s mainstream. Roger “Sing” Oldham, vice president for convention relations with the SBC Executive Committee, made the remarks.

Oldham said he believes most Southern Baptists are committed to praying for the well-being of the president and other governmental leaders, as he said Scripture instructs. He disavowed comments made on Fox News Radio by Wiley Drake, pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Buena Park, California, who served as second vice president of the SBC from 2006 to 2007.

According to the report, Drake said June 2 on “The Alan Colmes Show” that he was praying “imprecatory prayer,” which the article describes as reciting Psalms that contain curses or prayers for punishment against one’s enemies, against President Obama. Asked whether he was seriously praying that the president would die, Drake said that if the president did not turn to God and turn his life around, he was asking God to enforce the imprecatory prayers found throughout Scripture that would cause the president’s death.

Oldham said Drake is not a spokesman for the SBC and that his comments do not reflect the actions, resolutions or positions of the denomination. Those who have held public office in a church body carry a public trust that continues to be measured by their words after they leave it (Luke 12:48).

Oldham cited 1 Timothy 2:1–3 as the specific instruction that shapes the prayers of most Southern Baptists for the president. He said he considers it a fair statement that the vast majority of Southern Baptists are committed to praying for the president’s well-being in accordance with that passage.

Source: Read the original report