“These actions of our Executive Committee harmed survivors and endangered churches. We need to know this information,” Gaines, pastor of Belle Aire Baptist Church in Murfreesboro, Tenn., told his congregation May 26. “We need to hear it in all its brutal honesty so we can take steps to make things right with survivors, and so we can make changes to prevent these evils from happening again.”
Gaines expressed grief and hope as Southern Baptists move forward.
“Now the SBC has the opportunity to take that knowledge and begin the process of repentance and change. The report diagnosed a serious disease, so to speak, and now it’s time to take the steps necessary to eradicate it,” Gaines said. He encouraged Southern Baptists to send messengers to Anaheim to take measures “and ensure our institutions aren’t allowed to fail us in these ways again.”
Parrott, senior pastor of Christ Community Church in Huntersville, N.C., addressed the report May 29 from the pulpit.
“We partner with the SBC to advance the Great Commission, but we cannot advance the commission if we do not handle these issues appropriately,” he told the church, “so please be praying that the SBC will take the appropriate steps in a few weeks in our annual meeting in Anaheim, California, and we will continue to change not only our policies but our cultures when it comes to these things.”
He assured members of Christ Community’s work to keep its church safe from abuse, and encouraged members to Christ Community pastors with any related concerns.
“Honestly, our church has been on the forefront of implementing all sorts of important procedures,” he said, referencing background checks for volunteers and staff, educational resources including the Caring Well curriculum, and mandated reported to law enforcement of allegations. “Our processes here are safe and secure, but we are reviewing them all again.”
At First Baptist Church of Sulphur, La., with a pre-COVID pandemic attendance of 140, senior pastor Michael Linton counseled the congregation May 29 after the report.
“It is a repeated catalogue of failure of some Southern Baptist leaders to act responsibly when confronted with repeated acts of sexual abuse in our SBC churches,” he said of the report. “While it is true that our denominational polity doesn’t allow for oversight of our churches by the convention, there is an extreme distance between doing nothing and defying polity. The Executive Committee leaders chose repeatedly and for years to do nothing.
“What this means for our church locally is that we must take every precaution to protect our people from predators. We do much, but I’m certain there is more we could do. We will, again, be examining how we protect children especially, but any who would be vulnerable to abuse.”
He assured the congregation that “should someone in our church be credibly accused of abuse, as well as the police being immediately called, the church will be informed and steps will be taken to distance the perpetrator from any other opportunities for abuse.”
He welcomed repentance and accountability among Southern Baptists.
