Southern Baptists face push for public listing of sex abusers

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

The creation of an “Offender Data System” was one of the key recommendations in a report launched Sunday by Guidepost Solutions, an unbiased firm contracted by the SBC’s Government Committee after delegates to final yr’s national assembly pressed for an investigation by outsiders.

The proposed database is anticipated to be one of several suggestions offered to 1000's of delegates attending this yr’s nationwide meeting, scheduled for June 14-15 in Anaheim, California.

“These suggestions might 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 deliver “lasting change” to the SBC, America’s largest Protestant denomination. It has been shedding membership steadily lately, 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 Govt Committee, “only to be met, time and time again, with resistance, stonewalling, and even outright hostility from some inside the EC.”

“Our investigation revealed that, for many years, just a few senior EC leaders, along with outdoors counsel, largely managed the EC’s response to these stories of abuse ... and were singularly centered on avoiding legal responsibility,” the report said.

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

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

“We’re at a fork in the road,” Gaines mentioned. “I think this report provided the data that we needed for there to be a groundswell of support to take the proper actions.”

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

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

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 identified abusers. She was heartened that Guidepost was recommending such a system, but stated questions stay about its implementation.

“What is completely important is that the native church cannot operate as the default or presumed starting place for a survivor to try to get hold of an investigation of clergy intercourse abuse,” she mentioned through electronic mail. “If the native church is deemed to be a requisite first stop for survivors to pursue motion, then many survivors’ voices will probably 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 record of a whole lot of SBC-affiliated clergy and different personnel recognized as sex abusers. Brown said the committee, at a special assembly Tuesday, ought to agree to launch this list.

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

The final decisions about suggestions to submit to the Anaheim delegates shall be made by the SBC’s Sexual Abuse Job 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 noticed patterns and issues that have been deeply concerning,” he said. “Our primary job was to empower Guidepost to do their job, and they have performed a really outstanding job within the final nine months to look at occasions that occurred over 20 years.”

In the next week or so, the duty pressure will convey forth formal motions in “exact language,” which will probably 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 duty pressure’s recommendations based mostly on Guidepost’s report could be summarized in two phrases – prevention and care.

“Our important goal needs to be stopping sexual abuse,” he said. “And if abuse does happen, how can we care for survivors in a much better pastoral approach? How can we better communicate to verify (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 things be higher,” Frank stated. “SBC is a big family with 48,000 churches. There may be some disagreement on the way to make things higher. However I’m confident that we’ll work by way of the difficulties.”

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

One of the 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 crusing into uncharted waters.”

“The work’s not completed,” he added. “We’ve gotten the report, however I feel all people in the survivor neighborhood that I’ve heard from has said reports are one thing, however we’ll see if this household of churches has the courage and resolve to take motion.”

The sex abuse scandal was thrust into the spotlight in 2019 by a landmark report from the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News documenting a whole lot of instances in Southern Baptist church buildings, together with a number of through which alleged perpetrators remained in ministry.

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