Regarding the ultimate purposes of the 2017 investigation and the more recent one, Moore told Greear, “The strategy is clear—an endless psychological warfare aimed at silencing through intimidation.”
Reactions to Dr. Russell Moore
Dr. Ronnie Floyd published a brief response to the May 31 letter, rejecting Dr. Russell Moore’s version of events involving him:
I have received a copy of the letter from former ERLC president Russell Moore to our current SBC president J.D. Greear. Some of the matters referenced occurred prior to my coming here in this role. For those matters of which I was present, I do not have the same recollection of these occurrences as stated. I do take seriously allegations in this letter which may raise concern for Southern Baptists. I have been very committed to always operate with the highest integrity and skillful hands. I am right now considering ways in which we can develop the best path forward for the sake of Southern Baptists and our God-called commitment to our unified Great Commission vision.
Stone published a response on June 2 to the first leaked letter of Moore’s, calling it a “back-door press release” that is “blatantly and provably false.” He said, “The release of the letter is clearly an attempt to influence the upcoming presidential election in the SBC.”
In his video response to the second leaked letter, Stone said that Moore had never once reached out to him personally regarding the intimidation and bullying Moore claims have gone on for years. Stone said that as a survivor of sexual abuse himself, he would never take any action to conceal abuse within the SBC.
However, questions remain regarding the allegations in Moore’s second letter. The Washington Post reports, “Three employees who work in SBC institutions, who said they needed to remain anonymous to keep their current jobs, corroborated several of the factual details of the letter. Details in the letter were also confirmed by a former employee, an abuse survivor and a prominent abuse advocate.”
Pastor Eric Schumacher responded to Stone on Twitter, asking, “Do you support a full and independent investigation into the claims of these letters with the findings published publicly to exonerate the innocent and expose the guilty?” Schumacher encouraged those who watched Stone’s video to consider Jennifer Lyell’s Twitter profile, where she has posted extensively about her experience reporting abuse in the SBC.
CRUCIAL THREAD: Here is what Southern Baptist leaders & messengers need to consider as they reflect on the @sbcexeccomm‘s role and the actions of @pastormikestone, @ronniefloyd, attorney Jim Guenther and ongoing influence of Boto and Patterson:
— Jenlyell (@jenlyell) June 5, 2021
