The Reverend Dr. Lonnie Latham (born January 7, 1946) served as the senior pastor of South Tulsa Baptist Church, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a post he held from 2002 to January 6, 2006, when he resigned from that position as well as from the executive committee of the Southern Baptist Convention (where he served as one of four such members from Oklahoma), and as the recording secretary of the Southern Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma. His resignation came after his arrest for lewdness. He was later acquitted of the lewdness charge on March 7, 2007. History in the Tulsa Metro Baptist Association Lonnie Latham was elected director of missions for the Tulsa Metro Baptist Association during their November 13–14, 2000 meeting. The meeting also saw the controversial adoption of the Baptist Faith and Message, a pivotal document in the Southern Baptist Convention's "Conservative Resurgence." According to one report, Latham has spoken out against expansion of tribal gaming in Oklahoma, as well as against homosexuality. In the latter vein, he supported the SBC's adoption of a policy encouraging Baptists to befriend gays and lesbians and to help them "reject their sinful, destructive lifestyle." The September 16, 2001 edition of Tulsa World describes Latham as executive director of the Tulsa Metro Baptist Association. Opposition to gambling On Tuesday, October 26, 2004, one week before the 2004 General Election, Latham addressed the subject of State Question 712, a referendum on the expansion of tribal gaming and installation of gambling machines at three local racetracks. Speaking to attendees of the Tulsa Press Club’s “Two Views” luncheon, Latham said: "It grieves my heart to think we would do anything to undermine the effectiveness of the average home or the average person in our state...We don’t need gambling to help Oklahoma. What we do need is an empathetic heart toward small business. Through them, we’ll gain a true economic base for our state." “The petition would be to allow the state’s people to vote on whether or not they want this kind of casino gambling in the state,” he said. “.... We’re hoping that we can gather not only 51,000 names but also many more who will see this as the moral issue that it is.” Latham also said the social costs of gaming outweigh its benefits, and he opposed efforts to establish a state lottery. State voters eventually approved both expanded Indian gaming and a lottery.