Southern Baptists face push for public listing of intercourse abusers

A blistering report on the Southern Baptist Conference’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 Info System” was one of many key recommendations in a report launched Sunday by Guidepost Solutions, an unbiased firm contracted by the SBC’s Govt Committee after delegates to final yr’s national meeting pressed for an investigation by outsiders.

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

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

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

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

“Our investigation revealed that, for a few years, a couple of senior EC leaders, together with exterior counsel, largely managed the EC’s response to those stories of abuse ... and have been singularly centered on avoiding legal responsibility,” the report said.

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

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

“We’re at a fork within the road,” Gaines mentioned. “I think this report provided the knowledge that we wanted for there to be a groundswell of support to take the precise actions.”

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

“I feel that’s one of many first things we should 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 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 remain about its implementation.

“What is absolutely essential is that the native church can not function as the default or presumed beginning place for a survivor to attempt to receive an investigation of clergy intercourse abuse,” she stated via email. “If the local church is deemed to be a requisite first stop for survivors to pursue motion, then many survivors’ voices might 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 intercourse abusers. Brown stated the committee, at a particular meeting Tuesday, ought to comply with launch this list.

“I urge you to make public the entirety of your checklist of pastors & ministers accused of sexual abuse, in no matter kind it’s been stored for lo these a few years,” Brown tweeted. “Submit. It. Now.”

The ultimate choices about recommendations to submit to the Anaheim delegates will be made by the SBC’s Sexual Abuse Activity Pressure, 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 saw patterns and things that have been deeply regarding,” he mentioned. “Our essential job was to empower Guidepost to do their job, they usually have done a very outstanding job within the last 9 months to look at events that occurred over 20 years.”

In the next week or so, the duty force will bring forth formal motions in “precise language,” which shall be made public and introduced to the delegates in Anaheim for a vote, mentioned Frank, lead pastor of Biltmore Baptist Church in Arden, North Carolina.

Frank said the crux of the task drive’s suggestions primarily based on Guidepost’s report might be summarized in two words – prevention and care.

“Our major objective needs to be preventing sexual abuse,” he said. “And if abuse does occur, how do we look after survivors in a much better pastoral manner? How can we better communicate to make sure (abusers) don’t go from one church to a different?”

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

“Any one who 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 might be some disagreement on the best way to make things better. However I’m assured that we’ll work by 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 many leading contenders is Bart Barber, a pastor from Farmersville, Texas, who expressed dismay at 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 sailing into uncharted waters.”

“The work’s not accomplished,” he added. “We’ve gotten the report, however I feel everyone within the survivor community that I’ve heard from has stated studies are one factor, however we’ll see if this family of churches has the braveness and resolve to take action.”

The intercourse abuse scandal was thrust into the spotlight in 2019 by a landmark report from the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Categorical-News documenting lots of of cases in Southern Baptist churches, together with several wherein alleged perpetrators remained in ministry.

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