The ARITF’s decision to again hire Guidepost Solutions was met with a mixture of affirmation and criticism, as the SBC’s partnership with the firm has been the subject of considerable debate.
Much of the disapproval of Guidepost Solutions has centered on a tweet the organization posted in June 2022, which featured LGBTQ+ pride colors in celebration of Pride Month.
For example, Tom Ascol, Florida pastor and runner up for the 2022 SBC presidency, tweeted his disapproval on Tuesday morning.
“Dear SBC pastors & church members: This is the company that your #ARITF selected to administer the Ministry Check Website with your Cooperative Program gifts,” Ascol wrote above a retweeted image of the offending Guidepost Solution tweet. “If SBC ‘headquarters is the local church,’ then it is time for headquarters to stop this madness.”
Ascol continued, “The #ARITF admits that they know Guidepost supports ‘causes contrary to Southern Baptist beliefs’ as an ‘ally’ to LGBTQ+ activists, but they choose this organization anyway. Are you satisfied with this? Are you content to have millions of CP dollars go to this organization? If not, then let those who work for you hear from you & demand a change.”
“Otherwise, prepare to explain to the members of your church that their offerings will be going to a ‘proud ally’ of those committed to the sexual perversion of our society,” Ascol urged, going on to argue that the SBC Executive Committee, and indeed the SBC as a whole, is “at a crossroads. Which way will we choose?”
Anticipating potential criticism, Blalock told the Executive Committee on Monday evening that he knows “some Southern Baptists will immediately have concerns about our choice.”
“Like many of you, I was disappointed with a message conveyed in one of their tweets last June,” Blalock said. “But I’m pleased to say that Guidepost has…altered their social media engagement so this will not be an issue going forward.”
Another area of concern for some SBC leaders is the standard by which someone can be deemed credibly accused of sexual abuse, perhaps best illustrated by the ongoing controversy surrounding disgraced megachurch pastor and former denominational leader Johnny Hunt, who was named in the May 2022 report.
In the report, Guidepost Solutions revealed that Hunt had been credibly accused of sexually assaulting the wife of a fellow SBC pastor in 2010 toward the end of Hunt’s term as SBC president. According to a resolution passed by the denomination in 2021, these allegations constitute Hunt’s permanent disqualification from pastoral leadership.
Nevertheless, two SBC churches have hosted Hunt in their pulpits following a “restoration” process spearheaded by four pastors who assembled into a self-appointed ad hoc council.
