As an update:
From http://www.channeloklahoma.com/news/5872642/detail.html
SBC Has No Plans To Remove Pastor
OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Southern Baptist Convention said Thursday it does not plan to remove a reverend from the convention's executive committee after he was arrested on charges of offering to engage in an act of lewdness.
Rev. Lonnie Latham, 59, senior pastor at South Tulsa Baptist Church and a member of the Southern Baptist Convention's executive committee, was arrested Tuesday on an allegation that he propositioned a plainclothes police officer outside a hotel. He is accused of asking the officer to join him in his hotel room for oral sex, said police Capt. Jeffrey Becker.
"Typically when there's a moral failure of this sort, there's a voluntary resignation," Kenyn Cureton, vice president for convention relations, said Thursday. "If the charges are true, this is tragic news. I hope it's not true. But it doesn't look good, obviously. Certainly he and his church family are in our prayers."
Latham has supported a convention directive urging members to befriend gays and lesbians and try to convince them that they can become heterosexual "if they accept Jesus Christ as their savior and reject their 'sinful, destructive lifestyle."'
When he left Oklahoma County Jail Wednesday, he said he was pastoring to police when he was arrested and that he had been "set up."
The Nashville, Tenn.-based Southern Baptist Convention is the nation's largest Protestant denomination.
The lewdness charge carries a penalty of up to one year in jail and a $2,500 fine.
And the latest....
From http://www.channeloklahoma.com/news/5887178/detail.html
Pastor Accused Of Lewdness Resigns From Convention
OKLAHOMA CITY -- A Tulsa pastor arrested on suspicion of lewd behavior in Oklahoma City on Tuesday for allegedly propositioning a plainclothes policeman has resigned from a major state religious organization.
Officials said the Rev. Lonnie Latham notified the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma that he was resigning from the BGCO Board of Directors effective immediately.
This resignation follows his recent resignation at the South Tulsa Baptist Church. In his official letter of resignation to the BGCO, he only cited personal reasons for his decision to resign.
“We are deeply saddened by the recent events regarding Lonnie. We continue to be concerned for South Tulsa Baptist Church and the Latham family. We pray Lonnie will find healing and restoration as he seeks help for the issues he faces,” said Heidi B. Wilburn, spokeswoman for the BGCO. “Lonnie’s resignation has been accepted without the BGCO Board of Directors having to take initiative regarding the matter. Lonnie also indicated he has resigned from the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention.”
Police said the Rev. Lonnie Latham was arrested Tuesday night in a motel parking lot after soliciting a plainclothes officer who was investigating an area where there have been complaints of male prostitutes.
Latham was a pastor at South Tulsa Baptist Church and had been on the executive committee of the Southern Baptist Convention. He has spoken out in the past against homosexuality and same-sex marriage.
After posting bond, Latham told an Oklahoma City television station that he was set up and was in the area ministering to people.