Thomas Ascol

In June 2008, Ascol was successful in spearheading Resolution (No. 6) "On Regenerate Church Membership and Church Member Restoration" and an accompanying amendment that encouraged Southern Baptist Convention churches to repent for failing to maintain biblical standards in the membership of their churches and obey Jesus Christ in the practice of lovingly correcting wayward church members.[3][4] In 2019, Ascol offered an amendment to Resolution (No. 9) “On Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality” arguing that the amendment would strengthen the resolution by acknowledging the roots of these ideologies and making it more explicitly theological.[5] The amendment failed in a split vote and the controversial resolution was adopted.[6] In 2021, Ascol joined with others in submitting a new resolution, “On CRT/I Being Incompatible with the Baptist Faith and Message;” however, the committee on resolutions declined to bring the new resolution to the convention floor despite its being signed and submitted by more than 1300 Southern Baptists.[7] After the resolutions committee declined to bring the new resolution, Ascol led an attempt to rescind Resolution 9, adopted in the 2019 convention. That motion was ruled out of order by President J. D. Greear and the convention did not get to vote on it. [8]

Ascol was a primary drafter of the 2018 Dallas Statement on Social Justice and the Gospel, a statement of 14 resolutions and denials on topics like the church, sexuality and marriage, and racism.[9] The statement was publicly released on September 4, 2018 and has garnered more than 17,000 signers worldwide.[10] In 2019, Ascol was asked to speak at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) held in Oxon Hill, Maryland where he spoke on the progressive ideological challenges to Biblical Christianity.[11][12]

Begun in 1982, Founders Ministries exists for the recovery of the Gospel and the reformation of local churches.[13] Ascol serves as president of the organization and is a regular contributor both in the quarterly academic publication, The Founders Journal and the Founders Ministry Blog.[14] Ascol also co-hosts a weekly podcast, The Sword & The Trowel, which currently has over 200 episodes and 4.8 stars out of over 600 ratings.[15] The podcast regularly engages with issues at the intersection of culture, politics, and theology.

In 2021, Founders Ministry opened the Institute of Public Theology, with Ascol as a member of the founding faculty. Ascol taught the inaugural course, “The Pastor in the Public Square,” in the Fall 2021 semester. [16]

On March 22nd, 2022, Ascol was nominated by a group of eleven Southern Baptist pastors and professors to serve as the President of the Southern Baptist Convention.[17][18]