Southern Baptists face push for public record of intercourse abusers

A blistering report on the Southern Baptist Conference’s mishandling of intercourse 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 recognized to be abusers.

The creation of an “Offender Data System” was one of the key recommendations in a report released Sunday by Guidepost Options, an independent firm contracted by the SBC’s Government Committee after delegates to final year’s national meeting pressed for an investigation by outsiders.

The proposed database is predicted to be one in every of a number of suggestions offered to 1000's of delegates attending this yr’s nationwide assembly, scheduled for June 14-15 in Anaheim, California.

“Those suggestions will probably be open to questions, debate and comments on the assembly ground,” said SBC President Ed Litton.

He expressed hope that the shocking findings in the Guidepost report will convey “lasting change” to the SBC, America’s largest Protestant denomination. It has been shedding membership steadily in recent years, whereas being wracked by inside 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 number of senior EC leaders, together with outside counsel, largely controlled the EC’s response to these stories of abuse ... and had been singularly focused on avoiding liability,” the report mentioned.

The movement for an impartial investigation was put forward eventually yr’s nationwide 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 road,” Gaines said. “I think this report offered the knowledge that we would have liked for there to be a groundswell of help to take the correct actions.”

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

“I think that’s one of many first things 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 identified abusers. She was heartened that Guidepost was recommending such a system, however said questions stay about its implementation.

“What is completely critical is that the native church cannot operate because the default or presumed starting place for a survivor to attempt to obtain an investigation of clergy intercourse abuse,” she stated by way of email. “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 of their throats earlier than sound is ever uttered.”

Among the Guidepost report’s findings was that the Government Committee saved a secret listing of a whole bunch of SBC-affiliated clergy and different personnel recognized as sex abusers. Brown mentioned the committee, at a special meeting Tuesday, ought to comply with launch this record.

“I urge you to make public everything of your list of pastors & ministers accused of sexual abuse, in no matter type it’s been saved for lo these many years,” Brown tweeted. “Publish. It. Now.”

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

“We noticed patterns and issues that have been deeply concerning,” he stated. “Our principal job was to empower Guidepost to do their job, and they have executed a really exceptional job within the last 9 months to look at occasions that occurred over 20 years.”

Within the subsequent week or so, the task power will convey forth formal motions in “precise language,” which will 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 stated the crux of the task pressure’s recommendations based mostly on Guidepost’s report might be summarized in two phrases – prevention and care.

“Our main purpose needs to be preventing sexual abuse,” he said. “And if abuse does occur, how will we care for survivors in a a lot better pastoral means? How can we better talk to make sure (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 things be better,” Frank said. “SBC is an enormous household with 48,000 church buildings. There is perhaps some disagreement on how you can make things better. However I’m assured that we’ll work by way of the difficulties.”

In addition to sex abuse, the agenda for the meeting in Anaheim consists of 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 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 crusing into uncharted waters.”

“The work’s not done,” he added. “We’ve gotten the report, however I think everybody within the survivor group that I’ve heard from has mentioned studies are one thing, however we’ll see if this family of church buildings has the courage and resolve to take action.”

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 hundreds of cases in Southern Baptist churches, including several through which alleged perpetrators remained in ministry.

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