(RNS) — At their recent annual meeting in Nashville, Tennessee, Southern Baptists spoke loud and clear about sexual abuse.
Messengers at the 2021 Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting directed the convention’s new president to set up a task force to address reports that Southern Baptist leaders have mistreated abuse victims and mishandled allegations of abuse.
The local church delegates also approved a resolution stating that “any person in a position of trust or authority who has committed sexual abuse” should be permanently barred from being a pastor or church leader — a zero tolerance policy that is the standard in the scandal-weary Catholic Church.
Putting that nonbinding resolution in practice, however, will be difficult for the nation’s largest Protestant denomination. Every SBC church is autonomous and chooses its own leaders. And many rely on part-time staff or volunteers in leadership roles, often without much vetting.
As if to punctuate the moves made at the annual meeting, an advocate for sex abuse survivors posted to a blog a week afterward that a registered sex offender has been preaching at a Dallas Southern Baptist church.
Adat Shalom Messianic Church, a Southern Baptist church, allowed Chad Michael Hutchins, a registered sex offender who was convicted for possession of child porn, to teach during services, Amy Smith, of the Watchkeep blog, had discovered.
In a recording of a phone call posted to the blog, Pastor Robin David Rose of Adat Shalom defended Hutchins, saying he had served prison time for his actions. He told Smith that Hutchins’ crime had involved pornography, not harming children, and that Hutchins was not involved in children’s ministry.
Rose also said that God can change people’s hearts and that those who have committed crimes in the past can still serve in the church.
“People can change and people can commit themselves to lives that are… godly and good, and contribute to society,” he told Smith, according to the recording. “And they don’t need to be torn down by people for something that they’ve done years ago.”
Rose told RNS in an email, “Chad Hutchins is NOT a Pastor nor is he in any type of leadership position in our church, nor has he ever been.” He declined further comment.
Whether an occasional preacher is a church leader as was outlined in the resolution adopted by the SBC should not be debatable, said Smith.
“The hypocrisy of it is stunning given the praise that’s been heaped on the Southern Baptist Convention for just passing a motion to begin to appoint a task force,” said Smith. “What’s happening on the ground is situations like this.”
