# Paige Patterson One of the two architects (with Paul Pressler) of the Southern Baptist Convention's "Conservative Resurgence" — the systematic takeover of the largest Protestant denomination in America during the 1980s–1990s, which transformed the SBC from a theologically diverse denomination into a conservative political force aligned with the Republican Party. Patterson served as SBC president (1998–2000) and as president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Patterson was removed from his seminary presidency in 2018 over his handling of sexual abuse allegations — part of a broader reckoning within the SBC that exposed widespread abuse and institutional cover-ups. His trajectory — architect of institutional capture, wielder of denominational power, brought down by the culture he helped create — mirrors patterns the vault tracks across other institutions. The Conservative Resurgence model (identify the denomination's power centers, organize a faction, systematically replace leadership until the institution reflects the faction's ideology) has been studied as a template for institutional capture beyond the religious context. ## See Also - [[Christian Nationalism]] — the political movement the Conservative Resurgence enabled