Southern Baptists face push for public list of intercourse abusers

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

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

The proposed database is expected to be one in all a number of recommendations offered to 1000's of delegates attending this yr’s national meeting, scheduled for June 14-15 in Anaheim, California.

“Those recommendations shall be open to questions, debate and comments on the assembly floor,” stated SBC President Ed Litton.

He expressed hope that the shocking findings in the Guidepost report will deliver “lasting change” to the SBC, America’s largest Protestant denomination. It has been losing 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, “only to be met, time and time once more, with resistance, stonewalling, and even outright hostility from some within the EC.”

“Our investigation revealed that, for many years, a couple of senior EC leaders, along with outside counsel, largely controlled the EC’s response to those stories of abuse ... and have been singularly centered on avoiding legal responsibility,” the report mentioned.

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

Studying the Guidepost report, Gaines mentioned 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 street,” Gaines mentioned. “I feel this report supplied the information that we needed for there to be a groundswell of help to take the proper actions.”

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

“I think that’s one of the first issues we should always 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 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 stated questions stay about its implementation.

“What is totally crucial is that the local church can't perform because the default or presumed starting place for a survivor to attempt to get hold of an investigation of clergy intercourse abuse,” she stated by way of e-mail. “If the native church is deemed to be a requisite first cease for survivors to pursue motion, then many survivors’ voices will likely be choked in their throats before sound is ever uttered.”

Among the Guidepost report’s findings was that the Govt Committee stored a secret checklist of hundreds of SBC-affiliated clergy and different personnel identified as intercourse abusers. Brown mentioned the committee, at a special meeting Tuesday, ought to agree to release this checklist.

“I urge you to make public the whole thing of your record of pastors & ministers accused of sexual abuse, in whatever kind it’s been stored for lo these a few years,” Brown tweeted. “Submit. It. Now.”

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

“We noticed patterns and things that had been deeply concerning,” he stated. “Our main job was to empower Guidepost to do their job, and so they have performed a truly remarkable job in the final 9 months to take a look at events that occurred over 20 years.”

Within the next week or so, the duty force will deliver forth formal motions in “precise language,” which will likely 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 said the crux of the duty pressure’s suggestions based mostly on Guidepost’s report can be summarized in two words – prevention and care.

“Our fundamental aim needs to be preventing sexual abuse,” he stated. “And if abuse does occur, how will we take care of survivors in a much better pastoral method? How can we higher communicate 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 who is fair-minded will look at what’s in that report and demand that things be higher,” Frank mentioned. “SBC is a giant household with 48,000 church buildings. There is perhaps some disagreement on how you can make issues better. However I’m assured that we’ll work by 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 the main contenders is Bart Barber, a pastor from Farmersville, Texas, who expressed dismay on the mean-spirited behaviors attributed to some SBC officers in the Guidepost report.

If elected, Barber said 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 done,” he added. “We’ve gotten the report, however I believe everyone within the survivor community that I’ve heard from has mentioned experiences are one thing, but we’ll see if this family of church buildings has the courage 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 Specific-News documenting hundreds of cases in Southern Baptist church buildings, including several during which alleged perpetrators remained in ministry.

___

Associated Press religion protection receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely answerable for this content.