Paige Patterson

[2] In 1967, Patterson and Houston politician Paul Pressler met in New Orleans, Louisiana and expressed a desire to make the then-largely moderate Southern Baptist Convention more conservative-minded.

After 17 years as head of what is now Criswell College, he became president of the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina (1992–2003).

Patterson, Pressler, and a host of self-described conservative pastors and laymen began to spread the word that the teaching of SBC leadership was not reflective of their constituents, who were paying their salaries.

Patterson has been associated with the Council for National Policy, an umbrella organization and networking group for social conservative activists in the United States.

Additionally, Patterson's interpretation of the Bible includes "an assignment from God, in this case that a woman not be involved in a teaching or ruling capacity over men".

[14] In an interview taped in 2000, Patterson recounted how he counseled a woman, who told him about being abused by her husband, that she should pray for God's intervention.

[18] Patterson was a defendant in a 2018 suit which alleged he assisted in covering up sexual abuse by fellow Southern Baptist Paul Pressler.

[19] However, on April 6, 2021, in reaction to the abuse cover up allegations, Officials at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas would remove Patterson's stained glass image, as well as the image of numerous other SBC conservative resurgence leaders, from the MacGorman Chapel, a $30 million building which opened in 2011.

[21] However, on May 30, 2018, the seminary's executive committee made an abrupt change: [N]ew information confirmed this morning was presented regarding the handling of an allegation of sexual abuse against a student during Dr. Paige Patterson’s presidency at another institution and resulting issues connected with statements to the Board of Trustees that are inconsistent with SWBTS’s biblically informed core values.

[7][23]Patterson was terminated "effective immediately"[24] in response to mishandling the investigation of the alleged rape of a student at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in 2003, based on their internal review reported to SWBTS.

[7] The executive committee also found "undeniable" evidence that "contradicts a statement previously provided by Dr. Patterson in response to a direct question by a board member".

[25] The SWBTS Executive Committee removed "all the benefits, rights and privileges provided by the May 22–23 board meeting, including the title of President Emeritus, the invitation to reside at the Baptist Heritage Center as theologian-in-residence and ongoing compensation".

[27] The firing also led to the termination of Dorothy Patterson's pet project of installing over 60 stained glass windows on the SWBTS campus to honor leaders in the conservative resurgence.

During a chapel service on March 12, 2019, Truett McConnell University (TMU), an SBC school in Georgia, the school's dean and president presented Dr. and Mrs. Patterson with a plaque that renamed TMU's annual spring lecture series after them and claimed that they "provide an exemplary role model of Christian living.

"[31] About two dozen SBC donors attempted to return Patterson to his positions of president emeritus and theologian-in-residence at SWBTS and to punish those who fired him.

[33] His second sermon referenced the biblical story of Joseph, who was falsely accused by a woman of sexual abuse, to criticize some women in the Me Too movement.

His co-teacher for the course was Richard Land, the former head of the SBC's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and presently the president of SES.

"[36] In October 2021, Patterson was elected to a three-year term on the board of trustees of Yellowstone Christian College in Kalispell, Montana.

Doe was expelled after Fort Worth police searched his room and found nine firearms, which violated the seminary's weapon's policy.

[39][40] On April 4, 2023, U.S. District Court Judge Sean D. Jordan dismissed Roe's lawsuit against Patterson and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary with prejudice.

Paige Patterson (left) with a Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary student