Houston Chronicle reports that Southern Baptist Convention leaders mishandled sexual abuse allegations and covered it up.
After survivors came forward, they were shut down. According to a new report, the survivors were “met, time and time again, with resistance, stonewalling, and even outright hostility” by the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee. Ever since the reports, the church has been on a steady decline.
Before the SBC gathering, the church’s membership has been at an all-time low following “controversies about systemic problems” stemming from racism, sexual abuse, and the mistreatment of women.
The full report was published Sunday morning and followed a seven-month investigation by Guidepost Solutions. Axios covers all they found in the report.
“Our investigation revealed that, for many years, a few senior EC leaders, along with outside counsel, largely controlled the EC’s response to these reports of abuse. They closely guarded information about abuse allegations and lawsuits, which were not shared with EC Trustees, and were singularly focused on avoiding liability for the SBC to the exclusion of other considerations.”
An excerpt includes, “In service of this goal, survivors and others who reported abuse were ignored, disbelieved, or met with the constant refrain that the SBC could take no action due to its polity regarding church autonomy – even if it meant that convicted molesters continued in ministry with no notice or warning to their current church or congregation.”
“While stories of abuse were minimized, and survivors were ignored or even vilified, revelations came to light in recent years that some senior SBC leaders had protected or even supported alleged abusers.”
The president, Ed Litton, says he grieved to the core and is praying for the victims. “Southern Baptists will begin preparing today to take deliberate action to address these failures and chart a new course when we meet together in Anaheim.”
