Southern Baptists face push for public checklist of sex abusers

A blistering report on the Southern Baptist Convention’s mishandling of intercourse abuse allegations is raising the prospect that the denomination, for the first time, will create a publicly accessible database of pastors and other church personnel known to be abusers.

The creation of an “Offender Data System” was one of many key recommendations in a report launched Sunday by Guidepost Options, an independent firm contracted by the SBC’s Govt Committee after delegates to last yr’s nationwide meeting pressed for an investigation by outsiders.

The proposed database is anticipated to be considered one of several recommendations introduced to 1000's of delegates attending this yr’s national meeting, scheduled for June 14-15 in Anaheim, California.

“Those recommendations can be open to questions, debate and feedback on the meeting flooring,” said SBC President Ed Litton.

He expressed hope that the surprising findings in the Guidepost report will bring “lasting change” to the SBC, America’s largest Protestant denomination. It has been losing membership steadily in recent years, while being wracked by inner divisions over race and gender roles.

The Guidepost report said survivors of abuse by SBC clergy repeatedly shared allegations with the Govt Committee, “only to be met, time and time again, with resistance, stonewalling, and even outright hostility from some throughout the EC.”

“Our investigation revealed that, for many years, a few senior EC leaders, together with outdoors counsel, largely managed the EC’s response to those reviews of abuse ... and were singularly targeted on avoiding liability,” the report mentioned.

The motion for an impartial investigation was put forward eventually 12 months’s national assembly by the Rev. Grant Gaines, senior pastor of Belle Aire Baptist Church in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Studying the Guidepost report, Gaines said he was struck by repeated examples of a callous disregard for survivors, as well as leaders prioritizing protection of the SBC from legal responsibility over abuse prevention.

“We’re at a fork in the street,” Gaines mentioned. “I believe this report provided the data that we would have liked for there to be a groundswell of assist to take the precise actions.”

Specifically, Gaines mentioned he helps the proposal to create a system that alerts communities to known offenders.

“I think that’s one of the first things we should always do,” he stated.

Lawyer and author Christa Brown, who says she was sexually abused as a teen by the youth minister at her SBC church, has been urgent the SBC since 2006 to create a publicly accessible database of identified abusers. She was heartened that Guidepost was recommending such a system, but stated questions remain about its implementation.

“What is completely important is that the local church cannot operate because the default or presumed beginning place for a survivor to try to obtain an investigation of clergy sex abuse,” she stated through e mail. “If the native church is deemed to be a requisite first stop for survivors to pursue motion, then many survivors’ voices will be choked in their throats earlier than sound is ever uttered.”

Among the Guidepost report’s findings was that the Government Committee kept a secret checklist of lots of of SBC-affiliated clergy and different personnel identified as sex abusers. Brown mentioned the committee, at a special assembly Tuesday, should agree to release this listing.

“I urge you to make public the whole lot of your record of pastors & ministers accused of sexual abuse, in whatever form it’s been kept for lo these a few years,” Brown tweeted. “Put up. It. Now.”

The final selections about recommendations to undergo the Anaheim delegates shall be made by the SBC’s Sexual Abuse Task Force, comprising seven members and two advisors. Its work over the previous 12 months has been an emotional journey, mentioned Pastor Bruce Frank, who led the group.

“We noticed patterns and issues that had been deeply regarding,” he mentioned. “Our important job was to empower Guidepost to do their job, and so they have completed a very exceptional job within the last nine months to take a look at events that occurred over 20 years.”

Within the next week or so, the task drive will carry forth formal motions in “precise language,” which shall be made public and introduced to the delegates in Anaheim for a vote, stated Frank, lead pastor of Biltmore Baptist Church in Arden, North Carolina.

Frank stated the crux of the task pressure’s suggestions primarily based on Guidepost’s report will be summarized in two words – prevention and care.

“Our most important aim ought to be stopping sexual abuse,” he mentioned. “And if abuse does occur, how do we look after survivors in a significantly better pastoral manner? How can we better communicate to verify (abusers) don’t go from one church to another?”

His hope is that this report serves as “a catalyst for change.”

“Any one that is fair-minded will take a look at what’s in that report and demand that things be better,” Frank mentioned. “SBC is a giant household with 48,000 church buildings. There is likely to be some disagreement on how one can make things better. But I’m confident that we’ll work by way of the difficulties.”

In addition to intercourse abuse, the agenda for the meeting in Anaheim consists of election of a brand new SBC president to succeed Litton.

One of the main contenders is Bart Barber, a pastor from Farmersville, Texas, who expressed dismay at the mean-spirited behaviors attributed to some SBC officers within the Guidepost report.

If elected, Barber said in a broadcast interview Monday, “I’m praying that God will give me the wisdom to know what to do.... We’re crusing into uncharted waters.”

“The work’s not carried out,” he added. “We’ve gotten the report, but I believe all people within the survivor group that I’ve heard from has said stories are one factor, however we’ll see if this household of church buildings has the courage and resolve to take action.”

The sex abuse scandal was thrust into the spotlight in 2019 by a landmark report from the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Categorical-Information documenting tons of of circumstances in Southern Baptist churches, together with several through which alleged perpetrators remained in ministry.

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