GOODBYE ADRIAN ROGERS

Adrian Rogers, the man who was one of the chief architects of the conservative coup that destroyed the cooperative spirit of the Southern Baptist Convention, has died. I saw the plans he helped foment end careers, split churches, start theological witchhunts, and put family and friends at each others throats. Don't expect me to shed any tears over this man's death.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Rev. Adrian Rogers, a three-time president of the Southern Baptist Convention and leader of a conservative takeover of the denomination, the nation's second largest, died early Tuesday in Memphis. He was 74.

Rogers was elected president in 1979 as part of the conservative takeover of the 16.3 million-member convention, second in size to the Roman Catholic Church in the United States.

His election turned out to be a watershed moment for the denomination, and the group shifted dramatically to the right politically and theologically.

The conservative movement had focused on taking over the denomination's key positions. As president, Rogers was able to appoint other conservatives to committees that set policy and priorities for the faith.

In the years that followed, conservative leaders pushed hard against abortion rights, homosexuality and women pastors.