Southern Baptists face push for public record of sex abusers

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

The creation of an “Offender Information System” was one of the key recommendations in a report launched Sunday by Guidepost Options, an unbiased firm contracted by the SBC’s Govt Committee after delegates to last 12 months’s national meeting pressed for an investigation by outsiders.

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

“These recommendations will be open to questions, debate and comments on the assembly floor,” mentioned SBC President Ed Litton.

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

The Guidepost report said survivors of abuse by SBC clergy repeatedly shared allegations with the Government Committee, “solely 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 few senior EC leaders, together with outside counsel, largely controlled the EC’s response to these experiences of abuse ... and were singularly focused on avoiding legal responsibility,” the report said.

The motion for an independent investigation was put forward at last 12 months’s nationwide 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, as well as leaders prioritizing safety of the SBC from legal responsibility over abuse prevention.

“We’re at a fork within the highway,” Gaines said. “I believe this report offered the knowledge that we would have liked for there to be a groundswell of help to take the proper actions.”

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

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

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 known abusers. She was heartened that Guidepost was recommending such a system, however said questions stay about its implementation.

“What is absolutely crucial is that the native church can't operate because the default or presumed starting place for a survivor to try to get hold of an investigation of clergy intercourse abuse,” she said via email. “If the native church is deemed to be a requisite first cease for survivors to pursue action, then many survivors’ voices will be choked in their throats before sound is ever uttered.”

Among the many Guidepost report’s findings was that the Govt Committee saved a secret record of lots of of SBC-affiliated clergy and different personnel recognized as intercourse abusers. Brown mentioned the committee, at a special meeting Tuesday, should agree to launch this checklist.

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

The final choices about recommendations to submit to the Anaheim delegates shall be made by the SBC’s Sexual Abuse Activity Power, comprising seven members and two advisors. Its work over the previous year has been an emotional journey, mentioned Pastor Bruce Frank, who led the group.

“We noticed patterns and issues that were deeply regarding,” he stated. “Our predominant job was to empower Guidepost to do their job, and they have executed a really exceptional job within the last nine months to have a look at events that occurred over 20 years.”

Within the next week or so, the task drive will bring forth formal motions in “exact language,” which will 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 power’s suggestions based mostly on Guidepost’s report will be summarized in two phrases – prevention and care.

“Our foremost aim ought to be preventing sexual abuse,” he mentioned. “And if abuse does occur, how can we look after survivors in a significantly better pastoral way? How can we better talk to ensure (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 look at what’s in that report and demand that things be better,” Frank mentioned. “SBC is an enormous household with 48,000 church buildings. There is perhaps some disagreement on find out how to make things higher. But I’m confident that we’ll work by the difficulties.”

In addition to sex abuse, the agenda for the assembly in Anaheim contains election of a 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 officers within the Guidepost report.

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

“The work’s not performed,” he added. “We’ve gotten the report, however I feel everybody within the survivor community that I’ve heard from has said reports are one thing, however we’ll see if this household of church buildings has the courage and resolve to take motion.”

The intercourse 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 cases in Southern Baptist churches, together with several in which alleged perpetrators remained in ministry.

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