If elected president, Stone has said he would appoint a new task force to address the issue of abuse that would focus more on empowering local churches.
Barber has said on several occasions that he asked the implementation task force not to choose Guidepost, given the concerns of some Southern Baptists. He recently told a Georgia Baptist newspaper that he wanted to find solutions everyone could support.
“It is my prayer that, through all of these twists and turns, God will lead us to the best solutions to assist our churches in preventing abuse,” he said.
A report from the abuse task force is set for late Tuesday afternoon at the SBC annual meeting, after the presidential election. That task force is expected to announce the initial launch of the Ministry Check website and to ask for additional time to do its work.
While the role of SBC president is largely ceremonial — the position is unpaid and the job requires the president to spend a great deal of time promoting the SBC’s mission and message — the role does have some power. In the SBC, the president can influence which leaders get nominated to key committees and the president moderates the denomination’s annual meeting.
This article originally appeared here.
