Perhaps most prominent in their complaints was the Credential Committee’s unwillingness to disfellowship Saddleback Church during the 2022 annual meeting for ordaining three women as pastors on their staff.
The report also cited the case of Erin Harding, who graduated from Southeastern Seminary with a Bachelor of Arts in Pastoral Ministry degree, something they believe a woman never should have been allowed to do.
Additionally, the report cited instances of women being allowed behind the pulpits of SBC churches. Beth Moore, formerly a Southern Baptist, was specifically mentioned for delivering sermons at SBC churches in 2019 and 2021. The CBN also pointed out a number of church plants funded by the North American Mission Board with women on their staff who hold the title of pastor.
CBN Concerns About Guidepost Solutions
After pointing out the steady decline of SBC membership, annual baptisms, and contributions to the Cooperative Program over the past 20 years, the report turned its attention to Guidepost Solutions, which was responsible for the investigation and subsequent report regarding SBC leadership’s response to sexual abuse allegations in that same timeframe.
The report questioned why Bryan Loritts, who was executive pastor at The Summit Church in Raleigh, North Carolina, during the timeframe outlined in the scope of the investigation, was not included in the report despite the revelation he had been implicated in failing to properly respond to the sexual misconduct of his brother-in-law while pastoring at a previous church. J.D. Greear, who is lead pastor of The Summit Church, was SBC president from 2018 to 2021, which the CBN believes places Loritts’ case inside the scope of the investigation.
The Summit Church had hired Guidepost separately in 2021 to perform an independent investigation on Loritts’ response to the misconduct, the report of which is publicly available.
The report went on to imply that concern about the sex abuse crisis in the SBC may be overblown, especially when compared to the alarmingly high rate of sexual violence reported in public schools.
“Once again, sexual misconduct, abuse, and/or violence should be grieved, and justice should be served in all cases, but Southern Baptists have experienced notably fewer instances of abuse than concurrent organizations,” the report said. The CBN further alleged that some statements and actions of SBC leaders implicated in the report were “taken out of context.”
The CBN went on to criticize Guidepost Solutions more generally for their inclusive stance on LGBTQ+ issues, as illustrated by a Pride Month tweet in June 2022 and their report’s “subtle criticism of the Southern Baptist Convention’s stance on homosexuality.”
CBN on LGBTQ+ Issues
More generally, the CBN expressed concern that the SBC has been “softening on LGBTQ,” citing comments made by former SBC presidents J.D. Greear and Ed Litton, both of whom said in sermons that “we ought to whisper about what the Bible whispers about and ought to shout about what it shouts about” when it comes to sexual sin.
The report also criticized Al Mohler, who in 2014 said that he had repented of denying the reality of things like “sexual orientation.”
The CBN likewise criticize Southeastern Seminary professor Karen Swallow Prior for her support of the ReVoice Conference, which wants “to see gay/SSA [Same-Sex Attracted] people who adhere to historic, Christian teaching about marriage and sexuality experience peace and belonging in their local faith communities.”
