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 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 Info System” was one of the key recommendations in a report released Sunday by Guidepost Solutions, an independent agency 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 considered one of several suggestions offered to thousands of delegates attending this 12 months’s national assembly, scheduled for June 14-15 in Anaheim, California.

“Those recommendations can be open to questions, debate and feedback on the meeting floor,” 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, whereas being wracked by inside divisions over race and gender roles.

The Guidepost report stated survivors of abuse by SBC clergy repeatedly shared allegations with the Govt Committee, “solely 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 outside counsel, largely controlled the EC’s response to these reports of abuse ... and were singularly targeted on avoiding liability,” the report mentioned.

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

Reading the Guidepost report, Gaines stated 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 in the road,” Gaines said. “I believe this report supplied the data that we wanted for there to be a groundswell of support to take the right actions.”

Particularly, 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 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, but mentioned questions stay about its implementation.

“What is absolutely critical is that the local church cannot perform because the default or presumed starting place for a survivor to attempt to get hold of an investigation of clergy sex abuse,” she mentioned 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 of their throats before sound is ever uttered.”

Among the many Guidepost report’s findings was that the Govt Committee stored a secret checklist of a whole lot of SBC-affiliated clergy and different personnel recognized as intercourse abusers. Brown stated the committee, at a particular assembly Tuesday, should comply with release this list.

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

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

“We noticed patterns and things that had been deeply regarding,” he stated. “Our primary job was to empower Guidepost to do their job, and they have done a really exceptional job in the final nine months to take a look at occasions that occurred over 20 years.”

In the next week or so, the duty power will carry forth formal motions in “exact language,” which will be made public and presented to the delegates in Anaheim for a vote, stated Frank, lead pastor of Biltmore Baptist Church in Arden, North Carolina.

Frank mentioned the crux of the duty drive’s suggestions based on Guidepost’s report can be summarized in two phrases – prevention and care.

“Our primary goal must be stopping sexual abuse,” he mentioned. “And if abuse does happen, how will we care for survivors in a a lot better pastoral manner? How can we better 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 look at what’s in that report and demand that issues be higher,” Frank said. “SBC is a giant household with 48,000 church buildings. There could be some disagreement on learn how to make things better. But I’m assured that we’ll work through the difficulties.”

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

One of many leading 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 stated 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 finished,” he added. “We’ve gotten the report, however I think everybody within the survivor community that I’ve heard from has said reports are one thing, however we’ll see if this family of church buildings has the braveness and resolve to take action.”

The sex abuse scandal was thrust into the highlight in 2019 by a landmark report from the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-Information documenting hundreds of instances in Southern Baptist churches, including several wherein alleged perpetrators remained in ministry.

___

Related Press religion coverage receives support by way of the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.