Rep. Will Dismukes resigns from position as Alabama pastor

AUTAUGA COUNTY, Ala. (WSFA) - Alabama Rep. Will Dismukes, R-Prattville, has resigned from his position as pastor of an Autauga County church, The Alabama Baptist reported Thursday.

Dismukes said on his personal Facebook page Thursday morning that he resigned as pastor of Pleasant Hill Baptist Church by choice.

“After a conversation with the association, I resigned from Pleasant Hill Baptist Church not at the request of the church but by choice because I did not want to see the SBC vote Pleasant Hill out of fellowship. The Lord will lead me to a church at His timing and direction,” Dismukes posted on Facebook.

His resignation comes after a growing number of calls this week for him to step down from his position in the legislature.

Dismukes gave the invocation for a celebration event held for Nathan Bedford Forrest Saturday and posted about it on Facebook. Forrest was a leader in the Confederate Army and the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. The Facebook post has been removed.

Mel Johnson, the lead mission strategist for the Autauga Baptist Association, told The Alabama Baptist that leadership held a meeting with Dismukes this week.

“I am also thankful that Autauga Baptist churches can move forward and remain focused toward Great Commission efforts to communicate the gospel and reach our world for Christ,” Johnson told The Alabama Baptist. “Scripture is clear that all people are created in God’s image and therefore equal in every way before Christ and our personal need of Him as Savior and Lord.”

Rick Lane, executive director of Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, addressed the controversy in a blog post Monday.

“We are saddened and grieved to learn of the recent Facebook post by State Representative Will Dismukes who also serves as a bivocational pastor. In the wake of tremendous controversy, we reaffirm our opposition to any kind of racism,” Lane said.

Dismukes told WSFA 12 News Tuesday he has no plans to resign his position in the Alabama House of Representatives.