Southern Baptists face push for public record of sex abusers

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

The creation of an “Offender Information System” was one of many key suggestions in a report launched Sunday by Guidepost Options, an unbiased agency contracted by the SBC’s Government Committee after delegates to last yr’s nationwide meeting pressed for an investigation by outsiders.

The proposed database is expected to be one in all a number of recommendations introduced to hundreds of delegates attending this yr’s nationwide meeting, scheduled for June 14-15 in Anaheim, California.

“These recommendations shall be open to questions, debate and feedback on the meeting flooring,” mentioned SBC President Ed Litton.

He expressed hope that the shocking 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 times, while being wracked by inside divisions over race and gender roles.

The Guidepost report mentioned survivors of abuse by SBC clergy repeatedly shared allegations with the Executive 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 couple of senior EC leaders, along with outdoors counsel, largely managed the EC’s response to these studies of abuse ... and have been singularly centered on avoiding liability,” the report stated.

The motion for an unbiased investigation was put ahead eventually yr’s nationwide assembly by the Rev. Grant Gaines, senior pastor of Belle Aire Baptist Church in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

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

“We’re at a fork within the road,” Gaines mentioned. “I think this report provided the information that we would have liked for there to be a groundswell of help to take the precise actions.”

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

“I feel that’s one of the first issues we should do,” he stated.

Lawyer and writer 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 recognized abusers. She was heartened that Guidepost was recommending such a system, however said questions stay about its implementation.

“What is completely vital is that the native church can not operate as the default or presumed beginning place for a survivor to attempt to acquire an investigation of clergy intercourse abuse,” she said by way of e mail. “If the local church is deemed to be a requisite first cease for survivors to pursue motion, then many survivors’ voices can be choked in their throats earlier than sound is ever uttered.”

Among the many Guidepost report’s findings was that the Government Committee saved a secret listing of lots of of SBC-affiliated clergy and different personnel identified as sex abusers. Brown mentioned the committee, at a particular meeting Tuesday, ought to conform to release this checklist.

“I urge you to make public the whole thing of your listing of pastors & ministers accused of sexual abuse, in no matter type it’s been kept for lo these a few years,” Brown tweeted. “Publish. It. Now.”

The final decisions about recommendations to submit to the Anaheim delegates will likely be made by the SBC’s Sexual Abuse Task Force, comprising seven members and two advisors. Its work over the past 12 months has been an emotional journey, said Pastor Bruce Frank, who led the group.

“We saw patterns and things that have been deeply concerning,” he mentioned. “Our most important job was to empower Guidepost to do their job, they usually have done a truly exceptional job within the final nine months to take a look at occasions that occurred over 20 years.”

Within the subsequent week or so, the duty drive will bring forth formal motions in “exact language,” which will probably be made public and introduced to the delegates in Anaheim for a vote, said Frank, lead pastor of Biltmore Baptist Church in Arden, North Carolina.

Frank stated the crux of the task pressure’s suggestions based mostly on Guidepost’s report could be summarized in two phrases – prevention and care.

“Our most important purpose needs to be stopping sexual abuse,” he stated. “And if abuse does happen, how do we take care of survivors in a significantly better pastoral way? How can we better communicate to make sure (abusers) don’t go from one church to another?”

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

“Any person who is fair-minded will have a look at what’s in that report and demand that issues be better,” Frank mentioned. “SBC is a big family with 48,000 churches. There might be some disagreement on make things better. But I’m confident that we’ll work by the difficulties.”

Along with intercourse abuse, the agenda for the meeting in Anaheim contains election of a brand new SBC president to succeed Litton.

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

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

“The work’s not finished,” he added. “We’ve gotten the report, but I think everyone within the survivor community that I’ve heard from has stated reviews are one thing, however we’ll see if this family of churches has the courage and resolve to take motion.”

The intercourse abuse scandal was thrust into the highlight in 2019 by a landmark report from the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Specific-News documenting a whole lot of instances in Southern Baptist church buildings, including a number of during which alleged perpetrators remained in ministry.

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