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<DIV>Tulsa, Oklahoma pastor arrested on lewdness accusation <BR><BR>An executive
committee member of the Southern Baptist Convention was<BR>arrested on a
lewdness charge for propositioning a plainclothes policeman<BR>outside a hotel,
police said.<BR><BR>Lonnie Latham, senior pastor at South Tulsa Baptist Church,
was booked into<BR>Oklahoma County Jail Tuesday night on a misdemeanor charge of
offering to<BR>engage in an act of lewdness, police Capt. Jeffrey Becker said.
Latham was<BR>released on $500 bail Wednesday afternoon.<BR><BR>Latham, who has
spoken out against homosexuality, asked the officer to join<BR>him in his hotel
room for oral sex. Latham was arrested and his 2005<BR>Mercedes automobile was
impounded, Becker said. Calls to Latham at his<BR>church were not immediately
returned Wednesday.<BR><BR>The arrest took place in the parking lot of the
Habana Inn, which is in an<BR>area where the public has complained about male
prostitutes flagging down<BR>cars, Becker said. The plainclothes officers was
investigating these<BR>complaints. The lewdness charge carries a penalty of up
to one year in jail<BR>and a $2,500 fine.<BR><BR>Latham is one of four Southern
Baptist Convention executive committee<BR>members from Oklahoma. He spoke out
last year against a measure, ultimately<BR>approved by voters, to expand tribal
gaming. He has also spoken out against<BR>same-sex marriage and in support of a
Southern Baptist Convention directive<BR>urging its 42,000 churches to befriend
gays and lesbians and try to convince<BR>them that they can become heterosexual
"if they accept Jesus Christ as their<BR>savior and reject their 'sinful,
destructive lifestyle."<BR><BR>The Southern Baptist Convention is the nation's
largest Protestant<BR>denomination. (AP) </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Tulsa pastor resigns from church, Baptist board, after arrest</DIV>
<DIV><A
href="http://www.ksla.com/Global/story.asp?S=1984599&nav=menu50_2_1">http://www.ksla.com/Global/story.asp?S=1984599&nav=menu50_2_1</A></DIV>
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<DIV>OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ A Baptist preacher from Tulsa is resigning from his
church, the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma and his position with the
Southern Baptist Convention following his arrest in Oklahoma City for
lewdness.</DIV>
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<DIV>Lonnie Latham is stepping down as pastor at South Tulsa Baptist Church and
from the General Convention's Board of Directors and as recording secretary for
the General Convention.</DIV>
<P></P>
<DIV>A letter from Latham says only that he's resigning for personal
reasons.</DIV>
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<DIV>A release from the General Convention says Latham has indicated he has also
resigned from the executive committee of the Southern Baptist Convention.</DIV>
<P></P>
<DIV>Latham was arrested Tuesday outside an Oklahoma City hotel for allegedly
asking a plainclothes police officer to join him in his hotel room for oral
sex.</DIV>
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<DIV>Latham said while leaving the Oklahoma County Jail on Wednesday that he was
pastoring when he was arrested and that he had been "set up."</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Stuart Elliott</DIV>
<DIV><A
href="http://newappeal.blogspot.com/">http://newappeal.blogspot.com/</A><BR><A
href="http://www.ksworkbeat.org">www.ksworkbeat.org</A></DIV></BODY></HTML>