The Executive Committee on Tuesday also added a “Caring Well Sunday” to the official Southern Baptist calendar of activities, which would aim to spread awareness and education about abuse. Churches have the option whether to observe such dates. But Wellman urged them to do so: “We want to be building a culture that addresses and prevents abuse, and this is a really great educational opportunity.”
“Our dream … is that our churches would be safe for the vulnerable and unsafe for abusers,” Wellman said, citing numerous reforms underway. “There is no place, there is no tolerance for abuse in a Southern Baptist church.”
Some abuse survivors, following the meeting on social media, found the committee’s actions lacking. Long-time advocate and survivor Christa Brown criticized it for “self-congratulatory” talk on Twitter and said it’s failed to take concrete steps toward making amends to survivors or to take disciplinary steps toward former officials faulted in the Guidepost report.
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Keahbone said he understands the criticism and that compared to what survivors endured, “there’s nothing we could say or do that would be worthy of any praise at all.” He said the task force is doing what it can to implement reforms correctly.
“We’re not celebrating anything,” he said. “We’re just trying to have markers of improvement.”
Wellman echoed the thought. “I’ve just grieved and been broken-hearted for what they’ve experienced,” he said. “We recognize we have a really long way to go.”
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