In what looks like another move of support for Miller and other victims of abuse within the SBC, newly minted SBC President J.D. Greear announced today he will form a Sexual Abuse Presidential Study Group that will partner with the ERLC. This decisions also comes closely on the heels of another group which appealed to Greear to take similar action. Organizers of the #ForSuchATimeAsThis rally met with Greear’s staff earlier this month to ask those at the highest levels of leadership in the SBC to consider commissioning a clergy sex offender database, among other things. The group has also started an online petition for the changes they would like to see the SBC make.
For Greear’s part, the language he is using to talk about abuse and how the church responds to abuse is encouraging. “How we as a convention of churches care for abuse victims and protect against vile predators says something about what we believe about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our churches should be a refuge for the hurting and a safe haven for the oppressed,” Greear wrote in a statement.
As the SBC grapples with its own iteration of the #meToo movement, only time will tell what long-term solutions the leadership comes up with. For now, though, this is a step in the right direction.
