Messengers overwhelmingly passed a vote of no confidence in the leadership of Bill Smithwick, president of Sunrise Children’s Services. The action follows weeks of controversy surrounding a proposed change to the agency’s hiring practices to permit employment of homosexuals.

Messengers to the Kentucky Baptist Convention’s annual meeting conveyed a “no-confidence” vote in the leadership of Sunrise Children’s Services, ended a partnership agreement with Georgetown College, elected a layman as its new president and rejoiced in more than 330 decisions for Christ through pre-convention outreach.

The 666 registered messengers, through resolutions, also challenged Kentucky Baptists to make a commitment to child safety in their lives and their churches and expressed appreciation to R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, in recognition of his 20 years of service.

Total attendance exceeded 1,100, including more than 440 church members, for the convention’s two sessions Nov. 12 at Lone Oak First Baptist Church in Paducah.

Messengers overwhelmingly passed a vote of no confidence in the leadership of Bill Smithwick, president of Sunrise Children’s Services.

The action follows weeks of controversy surrounding a proposed change to the agency’s hiring practices to permit employment of homosexuals. Smithwick, who has served as Sunrise’s president for 16 years, has described the proposed change as a pre-emptive action to sustain government funding. The agency receives approximately $1 million of its $27 million budget from Kentucky Baptists.

Sunrise’s board, however, voted Nov. 8 to continue its current hiring practices in response to the growing concern of Kentucky Baptists.

The motion for a vote of no confidence was brought by Tommy Tapscott, second vice president of the KBC. Messengers later approved recommendations from the KBC committee on nominations to replace a slate of nominees to serve on Sunrise’s board and to fill five other vacancies. (A Nov. 14 report on the convention’s report can be accessed here.)

Messengers voted to officially conclude the KBC’s partnership agreement with Georgetown College on Nov. 12, 2014.

The partnership agreement was formed after Georgetown requested to end its covenant agreement with the KBC in 2005 to establish a self-perpetuating board of trustees and to meet Phi Beta Kappa academic standards and expand its donor base.

Following Georgetown’s decision to withdraw from the covenant relationship, Kentucky Baptists adopted the partnership arrangement to guide its future involvement with the college.

In 2010, a special committee to review the partnership with Georgetown recommended that the convention forego the partnership to place greater focus on affiliated agencies and institutions in covenant agreements with the convention. Georgetown has not received Cooperative Program support since 2009.

The KBC Mission Board originally proposed the move prior to the 2012 annual meeting, but convention action was postponed for one year while the college searched for a new president following the retirement of Bill Crouch.

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