by Zenitha Prince
NNPA News Service

When the former president of the National Baptist Convention USA moves to get his old job back, that’s news.

Rev. Henry Lyons	Rev. Julius R. Scruggs

And when that one-time president is Rev. Henry Lyons, who has pleaded guilty to five counts of tax evasion, fraud and other charges, well, the election becomes big-time news.

Today (Sept. 10) in Memphis, the denomination must make a decision. Will it be

Lyons, now pastor of the New Salem Baptist Church in Tampa, Fla., or Rev. Julius R. Scruggs, of First Missionary Baptist Church, Huntsville, Ala.? The decision will cap the NBC’s annual convention, which began Monday night and ends Friday.

In what would be an ultimate act of forgiveness, the denomination seems poised to re-elect Lyons – the presumed frontrunner. He was convicted in 1999 on charges of grand theft and racketeering after he stole $5.2 million from the church’s corporate partners, including donations to rebuild burnt black churches. The minister used the pilfered monies to fund a lavish lifestyle that included travel, cars, luxurious dwellings and mistresses.

Rev. James Collins (left), local chair of the host committee, pastor of Progressive Baptist Church in Memphis, and Dr. Hugh Dell Gatewood, president of the Woman’s Auxiliary, chat with a fellow conventioneer.

From left: Rev. Julius Scruggs, candidate for president, Josephine Scruggs, and Helen Young, wife of Rev. Jerry Young, candidate for vice president at large.

Lyons’ sins came to light after his then-wife, Deborah, ignited a $700,000 waterfront house he co-owned with another woman, according to news reports, and he spent almost five years in prison.

“It stinks in God’s nostrils, and I know it stinks in the law’s nostrils, and it stinks to me,” he said of his crimes, according to the Tulsa World.

Now having declared himself repentant, the disgraced minister is campaigning for his former job under the theme: “Restore the love, and repair the breach.”

Many within the denomination say they are willing to forgive Lyons but not all are willing to forget — or to re-elect him as president.

The Rev. Dr. L.B. West, pastor of Mount Airy Baptist Church in Northeast Washington, D.C., said many still hold the charismatic Lyons in “high esteem.”

“He is still well-respected. Having gone through what he’s gone through, and now that he’s on his feet, people are showing him love and forgiveness – we all make mistakes,” West told the AFRO. “However, when it comes to his being elected to lead this august body, I don’t know that people are going to be ready to re-elect him.”

From left, front row: Alton Hickman Jr, Larry Campbell, Foster Adams, Tyrone Joseph, and Dr. L. D. Holmes. Back row: Alton Hickman Sr., and O. C. Caldwell. They are taking a break before Wednesday’s General Session.

Foster Adams (second from left) and Dr. L. D. Holmes running for vice president at large on the same ticket as Rev. Henry Lyons.

Venerable Baltimore minister, the Rev. Dr. A.C.D. Vaughn of Sharon Baptist Church, said if Lyons is chosen he could taint the image of the denomination.

“He has paid his debt to society, going to prison and all, but I’m still not sure that it would send out a good image,” said Vaughn. “When you are in a high position…you ought to be someone with high ethical and moral standards…you (should) be there without raising questions.”

Lyons has said publicly that his candidacy was mandated by a God-given call to leadership.

But West, who plans to support Rev. Scruggs, said the time for Lyons’ leadership has passed.

“It’s a new day; the convention has moved forward and we need to continue moving forward,” the District minister said. If Dr. Lyons is elected, “he would do what any other person elected would do, which is to lead according to his own direction and vision…but the convention is well beyond the vision Dr. Lyons brought years ago.”

(Special to the NNPA from the Afro American Newspapers)