“As I knew then and know far better now, if anything, Rachael downplayed the horror this survivor had experienced, and later would experience, at the hands of the Executive Committee,” wrote Moore.
Mike Stone, the immediate past chairman of the Executive Committee, posted a 13-minute video on Sunday, saying Moore slandered him.
“It’s scandalous, it’s unscriptural, it’s ungodly, it’s outrageous,” Stone said of Moore’s letter. He also said he himself was abused by an older man when he was young and, as a victim, would be the last person to interfere with the convention’s work to root out sex abuse.
Stone is currently a nominee for president of the SBC and a member of the steering council of the Conservative Baptist Network.
But Daniel Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest North Carolina, said Monday he would support an independent investigation of the SBC Executive Committee.
“I believe facts are our friends, and so is the truth,” he said. “When accusations of such a nature are raised, I can’t imagine anyone not wanting the truth out, unless they happen to be hiding the truth. If people made mistakes, they need to own those mistakes and ask for forgiveness.”
Moore could not be reached Monday. As a conservative Southern Baptist who opposes abortion and same-sex marriage, Moore was hardly a theological outlier among his fellow Southern Baptist leaders. But he found himself criticized and ostracized by the convention after denouncing Donald Trump’s character in his 2016 bid for the White House.
As president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, he set up the Caring Well Initiative, which called on churches to confront the abuse crisis, institute policies to protect vulnerable women and children, listen to victims and care for them. He was also outspoken of the need for the SBC to better confront racism and gained a following among Black Southern Baptists who appreciated his efforts.
He resigned last month, taking a position with the evangelical publication Christianity Today and moving his family’s church membership to a non-SBC church. Moore was deemed “a source of significant distraction” in a task force report earlier this year to the SBC’s Executive Committee.
He did, however, have followers among a group of younger pastors who form Baptist21, among them Ronnie Parrott, who sits on the group’s board.
Parrott told RNS on Monday the allegations Moore raised were potentially harmful for the 14 million-member denomination’s public witness and so it was important to resolve them if the SBC is to move forward with a unified message.
This article originally appeared here.
