Southern Baptists face push for public checklist 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 identified to be abusers.

The creation of an “Offender Data System” was one of the key recommendations in a report released Sunday by Guidepost Solutions, an unbiased agency contracted by the SBC’s Executive Committee after delegates to final yr’s nationwide assembly pressed for an investigation by outsiders.

The proposed database is expected to be one among a number of recommendations introduced to thousands of delegates attending this 12 months’s national assembly, scheduled for June 14-15 in Anaheim, California.

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

He expressed hope that the shocking findings within the Guidepost report will convey “lasting change” to the SBC, America’s largest Protestant denomination. It has been losing membership steadily in recent years, whereas 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 Government Committee, “solely to be met, time and time once more, with resistance, stonewalling, and even outright hostility from some throughout the EC.”

“Our investigation revealed that, for a few years, just a few senior EC leaders, together with outside counsel, largely managed the EC’s response to these stories of abuse ... and were singularly focused on avoiding liability,” the report mentioned.

The movement for an impartial investigation was put ahead ultimately yr’s nationwide meeting by the Rev. Grant Gaines, senior pastor of Belle Aire Baptist Church in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Reading the Guidepost report, Gaines stated he was struck by repeated examples of a callous disregard for survivors, as well as leaders prioritizing protection of the SBC from legal responsibility over abuse prevention.

“We’re at a fork in the highway,” Gaines mentioned. “I believe this report provided the knowledge that we would have liked for there to be a groundswell of assist to take the fitting actions.”

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

“I believe that’s one of the first issues we must always do,” he stated.

Lawyer and writer 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, however stated questions stay about its implementation.

“What is absolutely vital is that the native church can't perform because the default or presumed beginning place for a survivor to attempt to acquire an investigation of clergy intercourse abuse,” she mentioned by way of email. “If the native church is deemed to be a requisite first stop for survivors to pursue action, then many survivors’ voices will likely 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 record of lots of of SBC-affiliated clergy and different personnel recognized as sex abusers. Brown mentioned the committee, at a special assembly Tuesday, should agree to release this checklist.

“I urge you to make public the entirety of your checklist of pastors & ministers accused of sexual abuse, in no matter form it’s been saved for lo these a few years,” Brown tweeted. “Submit. It. Now.”

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

“We noticed patterns and issues that were deeply concerning,” he mentioned. “Our fundamental job was to empower Guidepost to do their job, and they have performed a truly remarkable job in the final 9 months to look at occasions that occurred over 20 years.”

In the next week or so, the task power will convey forth formal motions in “precise language,” which can be made public and introduced 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 task power’s recommendations based on Guidepost’s report could be summarized in two words – prevention and care.

“Our principal aim ought to be stopping sexual abuse,” he stated. “And if abuse does occur, how do we care for survivors in a much better pastoral method? How can we higher talk 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 person who is fair-minded will take a look at what’s in that report and demand that issues be better,” Frank said. “SBC is a big household with 48,000 churches. There could be some disagreement on methods to make issues higher. However I’m confident that we’ll work by the difficulties.”

Along with intercourse abuse, the agenda for the assembly in Anaheim contains 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 officers in 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 performed,” he added. “We’ve gotten the report, but I feel everyone within the survivor community that I’ve heard from has said reviews are one thing, but 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-News documenting a whole lot of instances in Southern Baptist church buildings, including several during which alleged perpetrators remained in ministry.

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