However, that changed after they met with their new lawyers. Said the task force:
EC officers then returned with a brand new contract from their lawyer that had the EC in charge of another law firm that would conduct the entire investigation under privilege and allow Guidepost to support it as requested by the EC-appointed law firm. They said that the Task Force’s role is that it could be briefed from time to time on the progress of the report. Of course, that was totally unacceptable to us as well as the clear will of the messengers. They eventually said the Special Master process was doable as long as the EC hires the Special Master (thus creating a fiduciary relationship with the one being investigated). The Task Force answer was no.
“Consider this,” tweeted Pastor Griffin Gulledge. “The EC lawyers are trying to present a plan that completely invalidates the role of the third-party investigators and the task force, putting the executive committee in charge of their own investigation with occasional updates to the SATF. Insane.”
SBC Executive Committee Meets Tuesday
Tuesday’s special meeting began in “open session,” meaning that it was public and was in fact livestreamed. At the beginning of the meeting, SBC EC president and CEO Ronnie Floyd reaffirmed his commitment to eliminate sexual abuse from churches—but then added that the best way to do this is follow the advice of legal counsel in order “to avoid unintended consequences and confusion.”
Attorney and former Bush administration official Harriet Miers then (in response to a question that had been posed) expressed concerns voiced by Brotherhood Mutual, the SBC’s insurance provider, related to waiving ACP. Miers concluded by saying that any further discussion on that topic needed to take place in private, or “executive session.”
After brief comments from EC members in favor of and opposed to going into executive session, the EC voted to meet privately and the livestream ended. According to Slade, there was additional privileged information the EC needed to discuss privately apart from the insurer’s concerns about waiving ACP.
Meanwhile, on Christian Twitter
As people waited for the SBC Executive Committe to finish meeting privately, Gulledge began hosting a live discussion on Twitter that was eventually joined by nearly 600 people. Members discussed the situation, voicing their shock at the EC’s behavior. At one point, Gulledge said he thought if the EC decided not to waive attorney-client privilege—which many expected—Ronnie Floyd needed to resign.
As frustrating as it is that the @SBCExecComm has chosen to hide and circumvent the clear will of the messengers, the 600+ #SBC leaders on the @griffingulledge Twitter space is so encouraging. Thankful for him, @bartbarber, @juleswoodson11, @dhmccain, and so many more.
— Jonathan Groves (@ToWillandToWork) September 28, 2021
After meeting in private for over two hours, the EC resumed the meeting publicly via livestream with members continuing to debate whether or not to waive attorney-client privilege, pitting the will of SBC messengers against the advice of the EC’s legal counsel.
Pastor Jared Wellman once again put forth a motion to waive ACP; this motion was similar to his previous one, but with slightly different wording.
