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 identified to be abusers.

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

The proposed database is predicted to be one in all several recommendations introduced to thousands of delegates attending this yr’s nationwide assembly, scheduled for June 14-15 in Anaheim, California.

“These recommendations will be open to questions, debate and feedback on the assembly flooring,” 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 dropping membership steadily in recent years, whereas being wracked by internal divisions over race and gender roles.

The Guidepost report mentioned 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 inside the EC.”

“Our investigation revealed that, for many years, a few senior EC leaders, along with outside counsel, largely managed the EC’s response to these studies of abuse ... and were singularly targeted on avoiding liability,” the report stated.

The movement for an impartial investigation was put ahead 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 mentioned 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 within the road,” Gaines stated. “I think this report provided the information that we wanted for there to be a groundswell of assist to take the fitting actions.”

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

“I feel that’s one of the first issues we should 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 pressing 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 critical is that the local church can't perform because the default or presumed beginning place for a survivor to try to receive an investigation of clergy intercourse abuse,” she said via e mail. “If the native church is deemed to be a requisite first cease for survivors to pursue action, then many survivors’ voices will likely be choked in their throats before sound is ever uttered.”

Among the many Guidepost report’s findings was that the Govt Committee stored a secret record of tons of of SBC-affiliated clergy and other personnel recognized as intercourse abusers. Brown mentioned the committee, at a special assembly Tuesday, ought to comply with launch this list.

“I urge you to make public the entirety of your checklist of pastors & ministers accused of sexual abuse, in whatever type it’s been kept for lo these a few years,” Brown tweeted. “Put up. It. Now.”

The final decisions about suggestions to submit to the Anaheim delegates shall be made by the SBC’s Sexual Abuse Process Force, comprising seven members and two advisors. Its work over the past year has been an emotional journey, said Pastor Bruce Frank, who led the group.

“We noticed patterns and things that were deeply concerning,” he stated. “Our predominant job was to empower Guidepost to do their job, they usually have finished a very exceptional job in the final 9 months to have a look at events that occurred over 20 years.”

In the subsequent week or so, the duty drive will bring forth formal motions in “precise language,” which will probably be made public and presented to the delegates in Anaheim for a vote, said Frank, lead pastor of Biltmore Baptist Church in Arden, North Carolina.

Frank said the crux of the duty drive’s suggestions based on Guidepost’s report might be summarized in two words – prevention and care.

“Our most important purpose must be stopping sexual abuse,” he mentioned. “And if abuse does occur, how can we care for survivors in a a lot better pastoral method? How can we better communicate to ensure (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 things be higher,” Frank stated. “SBC is a big family with 48,000 churches. There may be some disagreement on how 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 includes 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 on the mean-spirited behaviors attributed to some SBC officials within the Guidepost report.

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

“The work’s not executed,” he added. “We’ve gotten the report, however I believe everyone in the survivor neighborhood that I’ve heard from has stated studies are one factor, but we’ll see if this family 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-Information documenting hundreds of cases in Southern Baptist church buildings, including several through which alleged perpetrators remained in ministry.

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