Tennessee Temple University's ex-president also resigns as pastor

Friday, January 1, 1904

photo Dr. Danny Lovett

A little more than a month after Danny Lovett left his post as president of Tennessee Temple University, the Georgia native resigned as pastor of Highland Park Baptist Church.

His last church service as pastor will be Aug. 28, according to Scotty Marcum, executive pastor at Highland Park Baptist Church.

Lovett could not be reached for comment Monday. Marcum said he was out of the country for a couple of weeks.

Lovett resigned from Tennessee Temple amid students' concerns over plagiarism. In a previous interview, Lovett acknowledged he plagiarized some passages in his book "Jesus is Awesome" but said he was leaving the university anyway.

Marcum said Lovett resigned from the church July 24 and didn't give a reason for leaving, except that "he felt like the Lord decided to move him." He added that Lovett's leaving didn't have anything to do with his resignation from Tennessee Temple.

Marcum said Lovett will be working for the Rawlings Foundation, a faith-based nonprofit in Kentucky.

"It was time for him to move from Highland Park Baptist Church," Marcum said.

Lovett has been pastor at the church since October 2010 and co-pastor for three years before that, according to Marcum.

When the plagiarism surfaced, Lovett said he had planned to leave his post as president of the university, which he held since 2005, because he had become pastor at the Highland Park church and he wanted to focus on that.

"Even if it wasn't for this, I promise you, we were already talking about making the transition this year," Lovett said in June.

Contact staff writer Perla Trevizo at ptrevizo@times freepress.com or (423) 757-6578. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/Perla_Trevizo.