Frank Page, who served as the president and chief executive of the Southern Baptist Convention's executive committee, stepped away from his position because of a "morally inappropriate relationship in recent past." He was one of the leading figures in Southern Baptist Convention, which is America's largest Protestant denomination and contains more than 47,000 independent Baptist churches. The executive committee is an administrative body that coordinates ministries and handles finances. Page first announced his retirement, and shortly afterwards he released a statement that he was resigning because of a "personal failing."  

As Huffington post reports, Page released his statement to Baptist Press saying:
“Out of a desire to protect my family and those I have hurt, I initially announced my retirement earlier today without a complete explanation. However, after further wrestling with my personal indiscretion, it became apparent to me that this situation must be acknowledged in a more forthright manner.”

Page, who is 65 years old, added that his actions embarrassed his family, his Lord, himself and the Kingdom and that he is seeking to rebuild his relationship with his wife and two daughters.

Stephen Rummage, current chairman of the Southern Baptist Convention's executive committee, also released a statement about this case stating that Page is regretting the pain his actions caused for others.

“My heart is broken for Dr. Page, his family and everyone affected,” Rummage said in a statement. “I believe I speak for the entire Executive Committee in saying that we are committed to provide them the spiritual and emotional support they need in the coming days.”

Rummage also added that the executive committee recognized that it needed to share the news about Page’s resignation with the “watching world” and other Southern Baptists “with truth and candor,” according to Huffington post.

Page's statement contains no further details about the nature of this relationship or who was also involved in it, but it is clear that it had big effect on Page and his family. Page's intentions were to announce retirement without further explanation and protect his family from the truth, but he changed his mind and announced his resignation later on. The question is why he stopped there? If he realized that "the situation must be acknowledged in a more forthright manner," why did he refrain from revealing details of the relationship that made him resign, and according to him "caused pain to others"? This way retirement was transformed into resigning, but the true reasons behind this act remain unknown to the "watching world."

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