SBC Abuse of Faith: 20 years, 700 victims: Southern Baptist sexual abuse spreads as leaders resist reforms
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I figured it would be a filing tomorrow or the day after. This is a huge story and it’s not going away. The fiascos with SGC may have been the tip of the iceberg…but I’d rather deal with the sunlight and disinfectant and get this in the open than allow evil to fester in “our” (read: gospel preaching) churches and Christ to be dishonored so.
"Our task today is to tell people — who no longer know what sin is...no longer see themselves as sinners, and no longer have room for these categories — that Christ died for sins of which they do not think they’re guilty." - David Wells
The truth is that all denominations are having these problems and if a serious effort was made, they’d find similar problems in schools, universities, counseling and mental health services, etc. It’s just a better story to portray it as an SBC problem…. until it’s the Roman Catholic’s turn again… or the independent Baptists’ turn.. etc.
So the story is “huge” in the sense that it’s a society-wide problem.
Of course, whatever the real numbers are in the SBC, they’re > 0, and that’s both evil and tragic. And I’m sure there is room for improvement. That’s really the only takeaway: let’s find ways to get the real numbers closer to zero. (But realistically, where you have humans involved, it’s never going to be zero.)
Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.
Russell Moore has an article about the Houston Chronicle series in opinion page of the NY Times today:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/13/opinion/southern-baptists-sexual-abu…
"Our task today is to tell people — who no longer know what sin is...no longer see themselves as sinners, and no longer have room for these categories — that Christ died for sins of which they do not think they’re guilty." - David Wells
Baptist Omertà
Sounds like SBC President JD Greear is going to be calling for significant reforms on this matter tonight:
Southern Baptist Convention President J.D. Greear will call on churches to reexamine ordination processes and “repent for a decade of inaction” on sexual abuse when he speaks to SBC leaders Monday night.
“We must repent of appealing to autonomy as a cover up for lack of accountability. We believe in autonomous churches, but we cannot practice that in a way that allows safe harbor for predators” Greear said in a comment to the Chronicle.
His office provided a preview of three of ten reforms that Greear is expected to unveil while speaking to the SBC’s Executive Committee in Nashville. His speech comes as Southern Baptist leaders grapple with a sexual abuse crisis that was reported by the Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News…
“We must repent of appealing to autonomy as a cover up for lack of accountability. We believe in autonomous churches, but we cannot practice that in a way that allows safe harbor for predators” Greear said in a comment to the Chronicle.
His office provided a preview of three of ten reforms that Greear is expected to unveil while speaking to the SBC’s Executive Committee in Nashville. His speech comes as Southern Baptist leaders grapple with a sexual abuse crisis that was reported by the Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News.
…Some predators, the newspapers found, were able to operate without oversight or legal scrutiny for years thanks, in part, to Baptist polity that says every church is self-governing and autonomous. Greear plans to address that and another issue - the lax standards for ordination - when he speaks Monday night.
“Ordaining a pastor is serious business, and our ordination councils should not come with rubber stamps,” Greear said in an email to the Chronicle Monday morning. “This is a sacred responsibility and we have to take it seriously, ensuring each candidate lives up to the standards set out by the Apostle Paul in 1 Tim 3—and being above reproach certainly means having no hint of sexual abuse or cover-up in their past. We can’t mandate this for churches but we have to take it seriously, and we have to do better. Souls are in the balance when we place them in the hands of our pastors.”
…Greear will also launch a resource for churches called “Becoming a Church that Cares Well for Abuse.”
“This will be a free 12 lesson, 20-minute training for any type of ministry leader,” and will feature two prominent experts on abuse, Greear’s office said.
"Our task today is to tell people — who no longer know what sin is...no longer see themselves as sinners, and no longer have room for these categories — that Christ died for sins of which they do not think they’re guilty." - David Wells
Here are the second and third parts of the series by the Houston Chronicle:
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/investigations/article/Southern-B…
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/investigations/article/All-too-of…
"Our task today is to tell people — who no longer know what sin is...no longer see themselves as sinners, and no longer have room for these categories — that Christ died for sins of which they do not think they’re guilty." - David Wells
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