DALLAS — A key leader in the moderate response to the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) inerrancy controversy in the 1980s died Feb. 25 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s Disease.

Oeita Theunissen, 87, known professionally and in church leadership as Oeita Bottorff, was director of Baptists Committed, an organization formed by Baptists to oppose a movement in the nation’s second-largest faith group known alternatively as the “conservative resurgence” or “fundamentalist takeover.”

She was a key organizer of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship — a group that celebrates its 20th anniversary this summer — formed after it became clear that denominational loyalists would be unable to hold onto SBC leadership through political means.

Prior to the controversy she was recognized as a leader among Southern Baptists in youth recreation ministries. She worked a number of years with the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission on issues including Texans Care for Children.

She is survived by her husband, Bruce, two children, a grandson, two sisters and two stepdaughters. A memorial service is scheduled at 1:30 p.m., Thursday, March 3, at the Episcopal Church of the Ascension in Dallas.

Memorials to: Dallas Women’s Foundation or the food pantry of the Episcopal Church of the Ascension. 

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