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Sunrise President Resigns After No Confidence Vote

The executive director of the Kentucky Baptist Convention says the president of a Baptist-affiliated agency for abused children has resigned.

The departure of Bill Smithwick as president of Sunrise Children's Services comes after the convention issued a no-confidence vote on Smithwick's leadership last month.

Smithwick had proposed that the agency consider opening employment to gay workers, saying he anticipated a potential loss of state and federal funding if Sunrise continued to turn away gay job applicants.

Convention Executive Director Paul Chitwood told The Courier-Journal he isn't sure if Smithwick, who’s on administrative leave, will stay with the organization or has officially left.

The KBC board named Dale Suttles interim chief executive.