Southern Baptists face push for public list of intercourse abusers

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

The creation of an “Offender Data System” was one of the key suggestions in a report released Sunday by Guidepost Solutions, an impartial agency contracted by the SBC’s Govt Committee after delegates to last year’s national meeting pressed for an investigation by outsiders.

The proposed database is predicted to be one in every of several recommendations introduced to thousands of delegates attending this year’s national meeting, scheduled for June 14-15 in Anaheim, California.

“Those recommendations shall be open to questions, debate and comments on the meeting flooring,” stated SBC President Ed Litton.

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

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

“Our investigation revealed that, for a few years, a couple of senior EC leaders, along with exterior counsel, largely managed the EC’s response to those reports of abuse ... and had been singularly focused on avoiding liability,” the report stated.

The motion for an unbiased investigation was put ahead ultimately 12 months’s nationwide meeting 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 safety of the SBC from liability over abuse prevention.

“We’re at a fork within the street,” Gaines said. “I think this report supplied the data that we wanted for there to be a groundswell of assist to take the best actions.”

Specifically, Gaines stated he supports the proposal to create a system that alerts communities to identified offenders.

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

Lawyer and writer Christa Brown, who says she was sexually abused as a teen by the youth minister at her SBC church, has been pressing the SBC since 2006 to create a publicly accessible database of known abusers. She was heartened that Guidepost was recommending such a system, however mentioned questions stay about its implementation.

“What is totally crucial is that the native church can't function because the default or presumed beginning place for a survivor to attempt to get hold of an investigation of clergy sex abuse,” she mentioned through e-mail. “If the local church is deemed to be a requisite first stop for survivors to pursue action, then many survivors’ voices shall be choked in their throats before sound is ever uttered.”

Among the Guidepost report’s findings was that the Executive Committee stored a secret list of hundreds of SBC-affiliated clergy and other personnel recognized as intercourse abusers. Brown mentioned the committee, at a particular meeting Tuesday, should agree to launch this list.

“I urge you to make public the whole thing of your checklist of pastors & ministers accused of sexual abuse, in whatever type it’s been stored for lo these many years,” Brown tweeted. “Submit. It. Now.”

The final selections about suggestions to undergo the Anaheim delegates will be made by the SBC’s Sexual Abuse Process Power, comprising seven members and two advisors. Its work over the previous year has been an emotional journey, stated Pastor Bruce Frank, who led the group.

“We noticed patterns and issues that were deeply concerning,” he stated. “Our foremost job was to empower Guidepost to do their job, they usually have carried out a truly remarkable job within the last nine months to have a look at occasions that occurred over 20 years.”

Within the next week or so, the task force will convey forth formal motions in “precise language,” which will be made public and presented 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 duty power’s suggestions based mostly on Guidepost’s report can be summarized in two words – prevention and care.

“Our important aim should be stopping sexual abuse,” he said. “And if abuse does happen, how will we care for survivors in a significantly better pastoral approach? How can we higher talk 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 one that is fair-minded will take a look at what’s in that report and demand that issues be higher,” Frank stated. “SBC is a big family with 48,000 church buildings. There could be some disagreement on the best way to make issues higher. But I’m confident that we’ll work by means of the difficulties.”

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

One of many leading contenders is Bart Barber, a pastor from Farmersville, Texas, who expressed dismay at the mean-spirited behaviors attributed to some SBC officers in 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 sailing into uncharted waters.”

“The work’s not completed,” he added. “We’ve gotten the report, however I believe all people in the survivor neighborhood that I’ve heard from has stated stories are one factor, however we’ll see if this household of churches has the braveness 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 Express-News documenting a whole lot of circumstances in Southern Baptist churches, together with a number of through which alleged perpetrators remained in ministry.

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