At the time the letter was sent, Garner was also employed as a music teacher at The King’s Academy, a Christian school. He had recently resigned from Everett Hills and was set to take another position at First Baptist Church of Concord, Tenn. He claims the letter and subsequent fallout caused First Baptist to withdraw its offer of employment and caused The King’s Academy to suspend him and ultimately terminate his employment.
Credentials Committee
The SBC’s Credentials Committee, which was repurposed into a standing committee in 2019, is tasked with considering questions that arise as to whether a church is in “friendly cooperation” with the SBC per criteria spelled out in the SBC Constitution. One of the ways a church can be found not in friendly cooperation is to act “in a manner inconsistent with the Convention’s beliefs regarding sexual abuse.”
According to SBC.net, “The Credentials Committee may make inquiries of a church, but may not exercise any authority over a church through an investigation or other process that would violate Article IV of the SBC Constitution.”
The committee makes judgments based on its inquiries and can recommend that the SBC Executive Committee deem a church “not in friendly cooperation.” Such action has been taken by the Executive Committee based on the recommendation of the Credentials Committee a number of times the past few years.
This article originally appeared here and was written by Laura Erlanson, the managing editor of Baptist Press.
