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

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

The proposed database is anticipated to be certainly one of a number of suggestions offered to 1000's of delegates attending this year’s national meeting, scheduled for June 14-15 in Anaheim, California.

“These suggestions will be open to questions, debate and comments on the meeting flooring,” stated SBC President Ed Litton.

He expressed hope that the stunning findings in the Guidepost report will carry “lasting change” to the SBC, America’s largest Protestant denomination. It has been shedding membership steadily in recent years, whereas being wracked by inner divisions over race and gender roles.

The Guidepost report said survivors of abuse by SBC clergy repeatedly shared allegations with the Government Committee, “solely 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 a few years, a couple of senior EC leaders, along with exterior counsel, largely managed the EC’s response to these stories of abuse ... and were singularly centered on avoiding liability,” the report said.

The movement for an unbiased investigation was put ahead finally yr’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, in addition to leaders prioritizing safety of the SBC from liability over abuse prevention.

“We’re at a fork within the road,” Gaines mentioned. “I think this report supplied the information that we needed for there to be a groundswell of assist to take the proper actions.”

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

“I believe that’s one of many first things we should do,” he said.

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 recognized abusers. She was heartened that Guidepost was recommending such a system, however said questions stay about its implementation.

“What is totally vital is that the local church can't perform as the default or presumed beginning place for a survivor to try to obtain an investigation of clergy intercourse abuse,” she stated via e mail. “If the native church is deemed to be a requisite first stop for survivors to pursue action, then many survivors’ voices shall 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 lots of of SBC-affiliated clergy and different personnel recognized as sex abusers. Brown mentioned the committee, at a particular assembly Tuesday, should comply with launch this record.

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

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

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

In the subsequent week or so, the duty force will deliver forth formal motions in “precise language,” which might 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 drive’s recommendations based mostly on Guidepost’s report could be summarized in two phrases – prevention and care.

“Our main goal must be preventing sexual abuse,” he said. “And if abuse does occur, how will we care for survivors in a a lot better pastoral approach? How can we higher 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 person who is fair-minded will take a look at what’s in that report and demand that things be better,” Frank stated. “SBC is a giant family with 48,000 churches. There is perhaps some disagreement on the best way to make issues higher. But I’m assured that we’ll work by the difficulties.”

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

One of the leading contenders is Bart Barber, a pastor from Farmersville, Texas, who expressed dismay at 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, but I think everybody in the survivor group that I’ve heard from has said studies are one factor, but we’ll see if this household of church buildings has the braveness and resolve to take motion.”

The intercourse abuse scandal was thrust into the highlight in 2019 by a landmark report from the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Categorical-Information documenting hundreds of circumstances in Southern Baptist churches, including a number of wherein alleged perpetrators remained in ministry.

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