Southern Baptists face push for public checklist of intercourse abusers

A blistering report on the Southern Baptist Convention’s mishandling of sex abuse allegations is elevating the prospect that the denomination, for the first 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 many key recommendations in a report launched Sunday by Guidepost Solutions, an independent firm contracted by the SBC’s Executive Committee after delegates to last 12 months’s nationwide meeting pressed for an investigation by outsiders.

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

“Those recommendations might be open to questions, debate and feedback on the assembly flooring,” stated SBC President Ed Litton.

He expressed hope that the surprising findings within the Guidepost report will carry “lasting change” to the SBC, America’s largest Protestant denomination. It has been dropping membership steadily in recent years, while 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 once more, with resistance, stonewalling, and even outright hostility from some inside the EC.”

“Our investigation revealed that, for many years, a number of senior EC leaders, together with exterior counsel, largely controlled the EC’s response to those stories of abuse ... and have been singularly targeted on avoiding legal responsibility,” the report said.

The movement for an unbiased investigation was put forward ultimately yr’s nationwide meeting 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, as well as leaders prioritizing safety of the SBC from legal responsibility over abuse prevention.

“We’re at a fork in the street,” Gaines said. “I believe this report provided the information that we needed for there to be a groundswell of support to take the suitable actions.”

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

“I feel that’s one of the first issues 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 urgent the SBC since 2006 to create a publicly accessible database of known abusers. She was heartened that Guidepost was recommending such a system, however mentioned questions stay about its implementation.

“What is totally essential is that the local church cannot function as the default or presumed starting place for a survivor to try to obtain an investigation of clergy sex 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 can be choked of their throats before sound is ever uttered.”

Among the Guidepost report’s findings was that the Govt Committee stored a secret listing of a whole bunch of SBC-affiliated clergy and different personnel identified as sex abusers. Brown said the committee, at a special meeting Tuesday, ought to agree to release this list.

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

The final selections about suggestions to submit to the Anaheim delegates can 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, stated Pastor Bruce Frank, who led the group.

“We saw patterns and things that had been deeply regarding,” he stated. “Our principal job was to empower Guidepost to do their job, they usually have completed a really outstanding job in the final nine months to take a look at occasions that occurred over 20 years.”

In the next week or so, the task pressure will carry forth formal motions in “exact language,” which will probably be made public and presented to the delegates in Anaheim for a vote, mentioned Frank, lead pastor of Biltmore Baptist Church in Arden, North Carolina.

Frank mentioned the crux of the duty drive’s suggestions based on Guidepost’s report could be summarized in two phrases – prevention and care.

“Our primary aim should be stopping sexual abuse,” he mentioned. “And if abuse does occur, how can we take care of survivors in a much better pastoral means? 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 have a look at what’s in that report and demand that issues be better,” Frank stated. “SBC is a big family with 48,000 churches. There may be some disagreement on make issues better. But I’m confident that we’ll work by means of the difficulties.”

In addition to sex 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 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 carried out,” he added. “We’ve gotten the report, however I feel all people in the survivor group that I’ve heard from has stated reviews are one thing, but we’ll see if this family of churches has the braveness and resolve to take action.”

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 hundreds of circumstances in Southern Baptist church buildings, including several through which alleged perpetrators remained in ministry.

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