Southern Baptists face push for public record 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 first time, will create a publicly accessible database of pastors and other church personnel recognized to be abusers.

The creation of an “Offender Data System” was one of the key recommendations in a report released Sunday by Guidepost Solutions, an impartial firm contracted by the SBC’s Govt Committee after delegates to final yr’s nationwide meeting pressed for an investigation by outsiders.

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

“Those recommendations can be open to questions, debate and comments on the meeting ground,” mentioned SBC President Ed Litton.

He expressed hope that the surprising 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 times, while 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 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 a few years, a few senior EC leaders, along with exterior counsel, largely controlled the EC’s response to those experiences of abuse ... and have been singularly targeted on avoiding legal responsibility,” the report mentioned.

The motion for an unbiased investigation was put forward eventually 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 stated he was struck by repeated examples of a callous disregard for survivors, as well as leaders prioritizing safety of the SBC from liability over abuse prevention.

“We’re at a fork in the street,” Gaines mentioned. “I feel this report offered the data that we wanted for there to be a groundswell of support to take the appropriate actions.”

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

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

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, however stated questions stay about its implementation.

“What is completely vital is that the local church cannot function because the default or presumed beginning place for a survivor to try to obtain 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 motion, then many survivors’ voices shall be choked of their throats before sound is ever uttered.”

Among the many Guidepost report’s findings was that the Government Committee kept a secret listing of lots of of SBC-affiliated clergy and different personnel recognized as sex abusers. Brown said the committee, at a special assembly Tuesday, should agree to release this record.

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

The final selections about recommendations to undergo the Anaheim delegates shall be made by the SBC’s Sexual Abuse Activity Pressure, comprising seven members and two advisors. Its work over the past yr has been an emotional journey, said Pastor Bruce Frank, who led the group.

“We saw patterns and issues that have been deeply regarding,” he stated. “Our major job was to empower Guidepost to do their job, and they have carried out a truly remarkable job in the last 9 months to have a look at events that occurred over 20 years.”

In the next week or so, the task force will carry forth formal motions in “exact language,” which will 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 stated the crux of the task pressure’s recommendations based mostly on Guidepost’s report will be summarized in two words – prevention and care.

“Our essential purpose must be stopping sexual abuse,” he stated. “And if abuse does occur, how will we look after survivors in a a lot better pastoral approach? How can we better talk to verify (abusers) don’t go from one church to a different?”

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

“Any one that is fair-minded will have a look at what’s in that report and demand that issues be higher,” Frank said. “SBC is a giant household with 48,000 churches. There may be some disagreement on the way to make things better. But I’m confident that we’ll work via the difficulties.”

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

One of many main contenders is Bart Barber, a pastor from Farmersville, Texas, who expressed dismay at the mean-spirited behaviors attributed to some SBC officers within the Guidepost report.

If elected, Barber stated 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 accomplished,” he added. “We’ve gotten the report, but 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 churches has the braveness 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 Specific-Information documenting lots of of circumstances in Southern Baptist churches, including several in which alleged perpetrators remained in ministry.

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