An influential Bible teacher has left the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC).
In an interview with Religion News Service (RNS), Beth Moore, founder of Living Proof Ministries, revealed that she is breaking away from the SBC denomination.
She was highly respected for her exceptional talent in Bible teaching, as well as her support for the denomination's missions and evangelistic efforts.
But the SBC regarded her as a pariah after she criticized Trump for his abusive behavior to women and she advocated for the victims of sexual abuse.
RNS revealed that Moore's opposition of the president and her vocal confrontation of sexism and nationalism in the evangelical arena has led her to being called a "liberal" and woke," as well as "heretic" for intending to preach on a Sunday church service.
"I am still a Baptist, but I can no longer identify with Southern Baptists. I love so many Southern Baptist people, so many Southern Baptist churches, but I don't identify with some of the things in our heritage that haven't remained in the past," she told the RNS.
Moore opened up on the details that led to her decision.
She said that she was immensely shocked upon reading the transcripts of "Access Hollywood" tapes.
"This wasn't just immorality. This smacked of sexual assault," she said, reacting to Trumps statements over his sexual exploits with women.
She was also surprised that her fellow evangelicals and SBC leaders were not outraged of the revelation but have supported Trump instead.
Moore said that her criticism of Trump, considered as a betrayal, resulted in a fierce pushback. Her book sales dropped, as well as the ticket sales to her event. Living Proof has also lost more than $1.8 million in 2017-2019.
In addition to her issue with Trump, she got concerned with SBC's tolerance for leaders who disrespected women, following allegations of abuse and misconduct that surfaced among Southern Baptists in 2016.
She then started to speak about her own experience of abuse.
Further, Moore expressed her dismay over issues of misogyny, nationalism and politics that she has observed in the denomination, through social media.
Then came May 2019, when she told Vicki Courtney on Twitter that she would be preaching in church for Mother's day. She said that the tweet sparked a debate within the denomination over whether women should be allowed preaching in church.
Baptist Pastor Josh Buice of Georgia reportedly urged SBC and Lifeway to cancel Moore and labeled her as a liberal threat to the denomination.
John MacArthur also told her to "Go home."
She then felt that she was no longer welcome in the denomination when she attended the annual meeting of SBC in 2019 and spoke about abuse as panelist.
She further stated that things have gotten worse since that moment, when SBC tackled the debate over critical race theory, causing several Black pastors to leave the denomination. She said that politics and Christian nationalism have overtaken the gospel.
The Bible teacher also disclosed that she ended her partnership with her publisher, Lifeway Christian. The publishing company will continue the distribution of her books but will no longer publish them.
She said that she was saddened with her departure from Lifeway, having formed friendships with her editing and marketing team.
"These are people that I love so dearly and they are beloved forever. I just have not been able to regard many things in my adult ministry life as more of a manifestation of grace than that gift of partnership with Lifeway," she stated.
The director of Lifeway Women, Becky Lloyd, also spoke fondly of Moore, saying that they will continue "to love, pray and support" her and that they are grateful for being a part of her ministry to women.
Moore is now starting to visit a new church and intends to join another denomination, either Lutheran or Presbyterian. But she said that she remains a Baptist at heart.
She also plans to remain connected with a Southern Baptist local church and hopes that the denomination would return to its core values.
"I am going to serve whoever God puts in front of me," Moore concluded.
