Though sexual abuse already was a significant issue in the SBC, an ongoing investigative series by the Houston Chronicle, joined by the San Antonio Express-News, that began in February 2019 revealed further some of the extent of the problem in the Convention and its churches. The initial articles in the series found 220 pastors and other leaders in Southern Baptist churches who had been convicted of or taken plea deals in sex crimes involving more than 700 victims.
Among the steps taken since then to address sexual abuse:
-In response to a motion at the 2021 SBC meeting, the ERLC’s trustees voted last September to commit the entity to an assessment of sexual abuse in the convention and approved $250,000 as an initial investment in that effort.
-In October 2021, the Executive Committee’s trustees voted to waive attorney-client privilege for an independent, third-party investigation of the committee called for by messengers to the SBC meeting in June.
-In June of this year, messengers to the SBC meeting overwhelmingly passed two recommendations from the Sexual Abuse Task Force, which had been appointed by then-President Ed Litton. The messenger-approved recommendations were for the creation of a “Ministry Check” website to share “properly vetted information” and for the formation of an Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force (ARITF). The ARITF is to oversee an independent contractor’s establishment of the “Ministry Check” website.
The messengers’ June 2022 votes followed a 288-page report called for by messengers to the 2021 SBC meeting that found mishandling by a few senior Executive Committee leaders and outside counsel of sexual abuse allegations.
On Monday (Sept. 19), Michael Criner, chairman of the SBC’s Committee on Nominations, told BP the panel “will implement a vigorous vetting process” to make certain nominees to trustee boards agree with the Convention’s commitment to addressing sexual abuse.
The Committee on Southern Baptist Relations presented the recommendation for the Executive Committee to establish Caring Well Sunday on referral from a motion at June’s SBC meeting. The dates for the emphasis in future years after 2023 are Sept. 29, 2024; Sept. 28, 2025; Sept. 27, 2026; and Sept. 26, 2027.
This article originally appeared on BaptistPress.com.
