Mike Stone has withdrawn his defamation lawsuit against Russell Moore, in which he was seeking $750,000.
Stone is the pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Blackshear, GA and serves on the steering committee of the Conservative Baptist Network (CBN). He had brought a defamation complaint against Moore for actions Moore allegedly took while serving as president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s (SBC) Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC).
Stone claims that Moore’s actions tarnished Stone’s “reputation within the religious community” and jeopardized his “future earning capacity.” Notably, Stone narrowly lost the 2021 race for SBC president to Ed Litton.