Sunday, May 22, 2022 an independent firm, Guidepost Solutions, a leader in domestic and international investigations, compliance solutions, monitoring, and
security and technology consulting, released a 300 + page report detailing the efforts by Southern Baptist leaders to silence credible reports of sexual abuse carried out by pastors, and other leaders in SBC churches.
Here is a link to the report:www.sataskforce.net. I encourage you to read at least the Executive Summary section.
I am grieved by the actions of some who I trusted. Instead of falling to their face in repentance and prayer, many of those leaders labeled anyone who made an allegation against a pastor or ministry leader as demonic, tools of Satan, distractions and so on.
As a result of the report, we now know that the Executive Committee, charged with overseeing day to day operations of the Southern Baptist Convention, had a list of known sex offenders who were serving in Southern Baptist Churches across the country. Instead of sharing this list, or even making it available, they kept such a list private for incomprehensible reasons.
The Executive Committee, made up of pastors, ministry leaders, and lay people from across the SBC voted today to make this list accessible. After 20 (and more) years of silencing accusers, labelling them as distractions, we are now learning how deep and wide the problem has been in our denomination.
I am still reeling over the ramifications of the report. I pray that as the SBC meets this June in Anaheim, we as a body of believers, representing well oveer 45,000 churches in North America, will openly repent. I pray we will take clear and specific actions to insure that the truth - regardless of the cost to persons and institutions - will never again be hidden. I pray that as messengers we own our sin, repent of our sin, and make choices to insure - to the best of our ability - nothing like this ever occurs again.