Statement from BJU’s President on the GRACE Report
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whoever you are, we were probably neighbors, too! Faculty Court, man. Still remember those berries that made that purply-red color when squished. The playground, riding the trikes in those little taped-on roads in the daycare front porch. … My claim to fame— My mom has a photo when she was pregnant with me and she’s dressed as santa claus standing with Dr. Bob Jr …
Gak! my dad has told me the dreams are the mind’s trash line! In all other ways, my dad is a wonderful counselor, however, esp about money.
I don’t know what to take away from this report. I have the breathing-fire-at-anything-BJ friends, and I have all my wonderful BJ friends … So I’m just sitting the fence here and will not likely get involved on any deep level. But do agree generally that the BJ abuse counseling has been dreadful and hurtful and needs to change a thousand yesterdays ago.
My prayer is that we would all have godly responses to the GRACE report.
1. We need to pray for the people mentioned in this report. People who came to the difficult place of getting help for their trauma of sexual abuse ended up with more pain instead. I don’t believe their counselors intended evil against them, but it would be good for them to seek to clear themselves of any hurt they caused, intentionally or unintentionally. We need to pray that those abused can experiencing healing. I have been fortunate to never experience sexual abuse, and it kills me to know what some of you experienced in your lives. We also need to pray for the abusers who have not truly repented, to repent.
2. We need to pray for Steve Pettit and his team to have wisdom to respond to this report in a way that pleases God. I personally appreciate Steve’s initial statement and see him as someone who wants to please the Lord and make changes in the culture and thinking that led to these painful situations. Steve needs to know that there is an army of saints who will stand with him as he does right.
3. Our kids in our churches are seeing all of this stuff on the internet. I wonder what my view of God would have been if I would have seen all of this type of stuff going when I was their age? We can’t change what they have read but we can ask God to help all involved in this situation to respond to Him in such a way that all of these kids will see God on the Throne helping the contrite and broken. Please God!
What do you all think about a day of prayer for the hurting that God will bring healing? What do you all think about a second day of prayer for Steve Pettit and his team to have wisdom to respond a way that God can use to bring healing, and that BJU will be a better and stronger place as a result? What about having a 24 hour prayer chain right here listed on SI if that is possible? Other ideas?
[Julie Anne]I’ve yet to see any victim confess their sin, pray some prayers, and meditate on scripture and this kind of trauma magically goes away.
Julie Anne has the caricature down pat but I don’t know of anyone, anywhere, at any time, under any circumstance who counsels like this. I wonder if Julie Anne can give us the name of such a counselor.
Donn R Arms
[Pastor Joe Roof]i would like to talk about this a bit.3. Our kids in our churches are seeing all of this stuff on the internet. I wonder what my view of God would have been if I would have seen all of this type of stuff going when I was their age? We can’t change what they have read but we can ask God to help all involved in this situation to respond to Him in such a way that all of these kids will see God on the Throne helping the contrite and broken. Please God!
Some read Petit’s statemetn and say it sounds wonderful. Others have a very cynical view of BJ leadership and say it sounds like a lot of mealy-mouth, lawyered up mush.
It is very hard for me to know what to think at all about trusting BJ’s top-level leadership. They are only now coming down from a very hierarchical style of leading, and Today’s Person, who is used to the (rightly or wrongly) even-ed up field of internet interaction, sees hierarchy as suspicious. Leadership makes mistakes, and they have reasons why, I’m sure, they don’t explain themselves.
And when they do explain something, it is viewed with cynicism and suspicion, as self-protection, etc.
In the end, how to make any of this an objective evaluation is very hard to do.
So on the one hand, I don’t want to fall into the pit of continual cynicism and bitterness. On the other hand, I do see suspicious behaviors. How to come to a valid conclusion is baffling.
If you think about the analogy of a burn for a moment. I have a great niece who was severely burned when she was 3 years of age. She is now mid-40’s and still bears the awful scars resulting from that day. No amount of therapy will eradicate those scars.
I would surmise that the same is true of victims of sex abuse. The pain may diminish but the scars will remain until that one is glorified.
The counselor’s role is not healer but helper.
Solicitor Walt Wilkins said today he will begin an investigation into the way Bob Jones University handled sexual abuse reports from students to see if state law was broken or obstruction of justice occurred.
In addition, he hopes anyone who wants to prosecute abuse will contact his office.
His investigation stems from a report issued Thursday by GRACE, a Lynchburg, Va., group that works with churches and other Christian organization on the proper ways to prevent abuse and how to work with victims.
GRACE found that the teachings of the university as well as counseling served to re-victimize students. There were also reports from victims that they were discouraged and in some instances told not to contact law enforcement about what had happened to them.
“If they were convincing individuals not to report crimes that could be considered obstruction of justice,” Wilkins said. “We need to see if it rises to that level.”
In addition, he said he wants to look into whether South Carolina’s mandatory reporting law was violated. The law has been updated many times since it was first passed in the 1970s, but now requires that people in a number of professions such as doctors and teachers report to law enforcement all cases of child abuse that comes to their attention.
Wilkins said he needed to do more research because the law is unclear about whether a mandatory reporter needs to contact law enforcement if they learn from an adult that they were abused as a child. Many of the cases recounted in the GRACE report would fall into that category.
Among those responding to the question in the GRACE survey about whether they were told not to report abuse to police, 17 said they were directed not to, 14 said they were discouraged not to and five said they were encouraged to report.
Another question dealing with whether the victim told BJU officials about abuse found that 101 did and 52 did not.
The cases detailed in the report involve students who had been molested before they came to Bob Jones as well as students who were assaulted by a fellow student or in some cases off campus at a workplace.
Wilkins said he has received one report from someone who talked to the GRACE investigators. It was a woman who was inappropriately touched by a fellow student in the 1990s while she was sleeping. She reported the assault to BJU officials, who in turn talked with the accused. He was expelled and then readmitted a year later, the report says.
The victim said when the man returned he harassed her, came to her home and left notes on her car. He is now a missionary overseas and in 2012 wrote the victim a letter of apology.
He wrote, “I want you, your pastor, my pastor, and those involved from my mission board to know that I am willing to do whatever needs to be done to handle this matter in a Biblical way. I
will cooperate and work with all those who are involved with the issue. I cannot undo what I have done. If God would give me the ability to go back in time and undo the sins I have committed against you I would gladly do that,” according to the GRACE report.
Wilkins said his office has contacted the man, but he has not responded. Wilkins said he has asked for more investigation before deciding whether to go ahead with prosecution.
Wilkins said he will meet with the Greenville Police Chief on Monday to determine how to proceed.
And he said he intends to talk with GRACE officials to see if they can offer any assistance.
Julie Anne has the caricature down pat but I don’t know of anyone, anywhere, at any time, under any circumstance who counsels like this. I wonder if Julie Anne can give us the name of such a counselor.
Donn, what do you mean, “nice try?” That feels condescending. If I told you that I had witnessed such a Biblical counselor would you believe me?
If you read the 300-page report, you will read excerpts from sex abuse victims and their experiences with BJU counselors. They described the counselors’ focus on the victims’ sin and their spiritual lives (or lack of), rather than dealing with the issue of the trauma of the abuse they incurred. This kind of counseling is being done all around the country. Most Biblical counselors are ill-equipped to handle sex abuse cases and the complications that arise from such trauma: PTSD, dissociative disorders, etc, and what we are seeing with BJU is the fallout of such “counseling.”
Anne,
I understand your concerns. That is why I believe it is in everybody’s interest to go to the Lord together for His wisdom and help. Yes, much more needs to be done than simply prayer, but nothing should be done apart from prayer. In time, we will all know how sincere Steve and his team are.
1. Jim Berg and BJIII should voluntarily resign. For them to try and hang demonstrations that they believe they are more important than the continued effective ministry. This is not a comment on how much right or wrong they have done. It is a comment that no one individual ought to be essential to defining or delivering the ministry. Chuck Phelps belatedly stood down from the BJU board and so should these two. Mark Driscoll refused to ‘read the tea leaves’ and now look at Mars Hill. If they are such great men - as has been suggested - then they will put Jesus above themselves.
2. Change the name of the school. In the 90’s, I took a few correspondence courses from BJU (including their ‘psychology’ classes). But one of the main reasons I avoided going to the school is that I did not want to be an alumnus of a school that was named after ‘Christian hero-worshipping’. Imagine if a church planter / pastor named his church the Robert Jones Baptist Church. As much as God may have used Bob Jones, he and his descendants are sinful humans like us all. The negativity of BJU’s policies and BJIII leadership is an unnecessssary weight around the hundreds of thousands of BJU alumni across the world. I suspect more BJU alumni would be more inclined to speak positively of their alma mater if it was Greenville University instead of Bob Jones University.
[JC]1. Jim Berg and BJIII should voluntarily resign. For them to try and hang demonstrations that they believe they are more important than the continued effective ministry. This is not a comment on how much right or wrong they have done. It is a comment that no one individual ought to be essential to defining or delivering the ministry. Chuck Phelps belatedly stood down from the BJU board and so should these two. Mark Driscoll refused to ‘read the tea leaves’ and now look at Mars Hill. If they are such great men - as has been suggested - then they will put Jesus above themselves.
2. Change the name of the school. In the 90’s, I took a few correspondence courses from BJU (including their ‘psychology’ classes). But one of the main reasons I avoided going to the school is that I did not want to be an alumnus of a school that was named after ‘Christian hero-worshipping’. Imagine if a church planter / pastor named his church the Robert Jones Baptist Church. As much as God may have used Bob Jones, he and his descendants are sinful humans like us all. The negativity of BJU’s policies and BJIII leadership is an unnecessssary weight around the hundreds of thousands of BJU alumni across the world. I suspect more BJU alumni would be more inclined to speak positively of their alma mater if it was Greenville University instead of Bob Jones University.
1 Fair points about BJIII & Berg.
2 Reasonable idea, but I don’t see that happening anytime soon, if ever. Unless they’ve already started laying the groundwork to do this, this is a process that could take years to complete.
I think Pettit is the right leader to facilitate the past-due change needed at BJU. It may take several years, but I predict BJU will become kinder and gentler and its enrollment will grow. Pettit does need our prayers at this time. Imagine if you were a new pastor and a few months into the job had someone publicly recommend that you fire or demote two long-time prominent members.
I attended Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA…named after Andrew Carnegie and Andrew Mellon.
Is Gordon-Conwell Seminary Christian Hero worship as well? Luther Rice in Atlanta? Vanderbilt in TN? George Washington University in DC? I could go on and on…
[Mark_Smith]I attended Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA…named after Andrew Carnegie and Andrew Mellon.
Is Gordon-Conwell Seminary Christian Hero worship as well? Luther Rice in Atlanta? Vanderbilt in TN? George Washington University in DC? I could go on and on…
I don’t have a huge problem with the name as it stands, but your comparison isn’t really fair, Mark. Gordon College was originally founded as the Boston Missionary Training Institute by AJ Gordon, and was only renamed after the founder over 20 years after his death. Luther Rice was founded well after Rice’s death, and was named to honor the legacy of the American Baptist missions pioneer. George Washington was a historical nod. Vanderbilt and Carnegie were named after wealthy benefactors who desired in some way to create and preserve personal legacies though their philanthropy. BJU was named after the founder while he was still alive, and furthermore kept the leadership in the family for 4 generations. Whatever else you might want to say, that is, well, somewhat unique, at least? If anyone tried that today—say, if Mark Driscoll had founded The Mark Driscoll School of Theology and installed himself as president—I don’t think you’d be defending him. There are some more recent parallels, I suppose—The Billy Graham School at SBTS comes to mind as one outside Fundamentalism. Generally, though, I can understand why it might seem a bit arrogant to some.
Greg Linscott
Marshall, MN
[DavidO]Just as a sort of test of the mimesis at work in all this, how many here who have sat for any length of time under a BJU pastor or teacher or professor have heard the theory(?) that “dreams are the mind’s method of taking out the trash”?
(I’ve heard it from two different and independent BJUtrained sources in different ministries in different states.)
I just wanted to say that I remember an extended talk on dreams from my Bob Jones Academy biology teacher about dreams and what they are and what one would be morally responsible for. The conclusion was that you are not in any way responsible for content of your dreams. Looking back maybe he was answering what he thought was a pervasive misunderstanding about dreams.
I have vague but fond memories of Dr. Fremont. The stories strike me as he was a bit unhinged in the best kind of way. Later when I was in college his son Gil and I built a house together. It took us weekends, and summers for at least a year and a half, most of the time us two working alone together. Gil is a bit unhinged in the best kind of way too, and I really enjoyed my time with him (and he wouldn’t mind me saying that).
Again, I think there is a lot of Monday morning quarterbacking going on right now. A few random thoughts from someone who grew up at BJU:
1. Yes I think every kid knew something was wrong with the discipline system. It was unhealthy at times. Imagine your entire life from consciousness to your senior year of college is the story of this or that friend getting expelled, put on probation, etc never to be seen again (or seen again a year later). I think it fostered a “don’t talk to the authorities, you never know what will happen” mentality that was completely unintended. At the same time you knew something was off about the whole thing you also knew these people really did love you (at least that was my experience). Imagine having tons of godly examples all around you in one big family (with bad apples I’m sure). I see the experience growing up there as a unique gift.
2. I think this point was made above, but seriously folks, compared to really any other college (let’s just say in South Carolina to make it easy) the chances are much lower that a student will be assaulted based on no frat drinking parties (I’m sure drinking happens, but not to the scale it would elsewhere). A school that enforces even basic sexual boundaries has a much higher chance of preventing abuse. With this report, the chances are even that much higher that students will be safe.
3. I wonder if people realize they’re talking about real human beings sometimes. I doubt that any pastor would coming out with their dirty laundry not stinking if a full investigation were made of your entire career. Imagine being confronted with every mistake you made (or most of the big ones) for thirty or forty years.
4. A few of the people I later found out to be abusers just seemed a bit off (I’m thinking of two). There was one Day Camp (essentially child care for employees during the summers) counselor that everyone knew was just weird and shouldn’t be with us who we later found out did something wrong and we never saw him again. My lesson is this. Pastors and other leaders: have the kind of relationship with your kids that they want to tell you their that their spidey sense is tingly about someone they’re around. They’re probably right. You may be the blind one. If the kids are creeped out by someone, it just may be because they’re a creep. And even if not, maybe the person in question at minimum simply isn’t going to be effective in their job.
5. I was on campus just recently and two things stood out. 1) wow there aren’t as many students 2) wow they all seem to want to be here. There is simply a different atmosphere that I can’t explain concretely, and I have hope for the future of BJU.
Any way you look at this, the report has much in it to weep over. Also some things that it did not contain are also cause for thankfulness. While I did not read every jot and tittle, I did read most of it yesterday. Some of it was very painful. Sad to read the stories of those abused by whom ever, relatives, a pastor, a fellow student, a stranger. We live in a wicked world and it was sad to read these heart wrenching stories.
Living in MN for ten years, we have heard a constant barrage from the media about clergy sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church. I was grateful that whatever BJU may have done, it isn’t the case that they ever harbored a sexual predator among its employees!
However there were clearly cases where things could have been handled better. But with decades of history and hundreds of employees, this should come as no surprise. I just hope my own personal journey of 35 yrs. in ministry is not held up to the same kind of intense scrutiny or Central might be looking for a new historian. I am fairly sure that some of my past counselees might charge me with malfeasance! Deservedly so. In Berg’s defense, he is a bit older than me. The Biblical counseling movement came on the scene early in his career. No one of my generation was taught counseling skills particularly well. There was no LaFayette to attend when I was in my ministerial formative years.
Finally a word on Steve Petit with whom I attended grad school 35 plus years ago. I think he will need the wisdom of Solomon in dealing with this report. I know he has a team in place from whom to receive counsel, but today he is the face of the University. I for one am praying for him and am glad that these things are not on my shoulders.
I grieve for Drs. Jones and Berg. Whatever their errors and faults, I doubt very much that either one acted out of malice. To end their ministries in such a way is source of profound sadness for me. May the Lord grant them grace and humility to face this in a way that Christ will be honored.
Finally for the nameless victims of abuse, I hope they will find God sufficient to rebuild their broken lives. Even one such victim is too many. Even so, come Lord Jesus.
Jeff Straub
The substance & sentiment of what you wrote certainly resonates well with me. Fair & compassionate.
Robert's church website is www.odbc.org.au.
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