COLUMBUS, Ohio — June 19, 2015 — Union University presented Russell D. Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, with its M.E. Dodd Denominational Service Award during the ERLC’s June 16 dinner at the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting.
The Dodd Award is the highest denominational service award Union gives. It is named for the man who was a 1904 Union graduate, served as president of the SBC and who was the father of today’s Cooperative Program, the method by which Southern Baptists pool their resources to fund their mission efforts.
The award is given to a leader within the SBC who displays excellence and leadership in Southern Baptist life, as well as friendship and commitment to Union University. Past recipients include Jimmy Draper (2004), Adrian Rogers (2005), Morris Chapman (2006), Frank Page (2007), Thom Rainer (2008), R. Albert Mohler Jr. (2009), Jerry Rankin (2010), Chester Harrison (2011), First Baptist Church in Hendersonville, Tennessee (2012).
Todd Brady, Union’s vice president for university ministries, presented the award to Moore, describing him as a “convictional, passionate, winsome and timely” leader for Southern Baptists.
“He is a faithful theologian, a helpful ethicist, an eloquent writer and a powerful preacher,” Brady said. “In a day when there is chaos and confusion among society about matters like sexuality, marriage and religious liberty, we as Southern Baptists, and we as Union University, are grateful for his commitment and his bold and clear, common-sense leadership.”