SBC Executive Committee puts downtown Nashville building up for sale, citing more than $12 million in legal expenses from abuse investigation

The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee is selling its downtown offices at 901 Commerce Street in Nashville due to massive legal expenses and other costs incurred from an abuse investigation.

The decision was announced during the group’s Sept. 16-17 board meeting, which includes 86 members.

The Executive Committee employs 20 staff and includes administrative offices of the denomination, and Baptist Press, the SBC’s public relations and information service. It is the latest SBC entity to announce plans to liquidate buildings and other facilities in downtown Nashville. In 2017, Lifeway Christian Resources, the SBC’s publishing arm, sold its campus for $125 million. At the time, about 900 employees worked from the downtown office.

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Financial woes stemming from a third-party investigation into Southern Baptist leaders’ handling of an abuse crisis, coupled with decreasing revenue from the denomination’s Cooperative Program budget funded by church contributions, were discussed by executive committee members at the meeting.

Since a May 2022 report by Guidepost Solutions, the SBC has faced lawsuits and a U.S. Department of Justice investigation, resulting in the Executive Committee spending $12.1 million between October 2020 and July 2024 to cover lawyers’ fees and other legal expenses.

According to SBC.net, “Although the Executive Committee does not control or direct the activities of Convention agencies, it reviews their financial statements and recommends the Convention annual operating budget. In addition, it receives and distributes the monies Southern Baptists give in support of denominational ministries, acts as the recipient and trust agency for all Convention properties, and provides public relations and news services.”