Christian News

The existence of the Southern Baptist report on its abuse crisis is a triumph of congregational polity, aided by the minutiae of church bylaws and the fierce determination of survivors and advocates to say enough was enough. And yet, the abuse investigation almost never happened.

As Buffalo mourns the murder of 10 African Americans in a racially motivated supermarket massacre, Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee Interim President and CEO Willie McLaurin is conducting a ministry of presence.

“This is a new day in the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention,” said committee chairman, Rolland Slade in a video meeting Tuesday. “And our commitment is to be different.”

Bishop Mildred Hines, the 98th bishop of the AME Zion Church, died on Monday (May 23), the bishops’ statement said. She was the sole female bishop of the historically Black denomination that dates to 1796.

This Sunday, Indiana pastor John B. Lowe II confessed to an adulterous relationship 20 years ago. The pastor’s victim later took the stage, claiming that it wasn’t an adulterous relationship but rather sexual abuse.

On Tuesday, Tom Ascol weighed in with his initial reflections regarding the Guidepost Solutions report about the Executive Committee's handling of sexual abuse allegations.

The Guidepost Solutions report investigating the SBC EC revealed that over the course of two decades, the SBC systematically and consistently ignored, silenced, and at times even ostracized survivors of sexual abuse.

The report on the Southern Baptist Convention's sexual abuse crisis is unsparing. But allegations and recommendations about how to respond to those allegations have existed for quite some time.