Even after the investigation was approved, a number of SBC leaders tried to limit its scope and restrict how much of Guideposts’ eventual report would become public.
Sills was named in the Guidepost report.
Guidepost declined to comment on the suit. Attorneys for Sills were not available for comment.
The details of Sills’ departure from Southern seminary remained unknown until 2019, when he found a job with a different Christian ministry. Lyell then came forward, alleging that Sills had been sexually abusive. She told her story to Baptist Press, the SBC’s official news publication.
When the story first was published, the Baptist Press changed the story to say that she had admitted an inappropriate relationship, causing a backlash against Lyell, then a vice president at an SBC publisher. Baptist Press later retracted the story and apologized to her, as did the SBC Executive Committee.
In the past, sexual misconduct by clergy has been described by the SBC as a “moral failing,” but increasingly such conduct is seen as an abuse of power. However, adult survivors of abuse are often seen as sinners and ostracized.
The Executive Committee’s treatment of Lyell was one of the issues that prompted the Guidepost Solutions investigation, which would lead to national headlines and eventually to a series of proposed reforms.
Disgraced former SBC president Johnny Hunt has also sued the SBC and Guidepost, claiming his inclusion in its report was defamatory. Guidepost investigations found allegations that Hunt had sexually assaulted another pastor’s wife were credible. Hunt had initially denied the allegations then admitted claimed he had a consensual immoral encounter.
This article originally appeared here.
