ANAHEIM, California. Nearly 10,000 members of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination are gathering in Anaheim, California, this week to discuss how Southern Baptists should respond to the shocking findings of an independent sexual harassment investigation. The members of the Assembly of Southern Baptists plan to vote on the proposals on Tuesday, as well as to elect the next president of the assembly. In May, Southern Baptist leaders published a report detailing a long-standing cover-up of sexual abuse in their doctrine. For 15 years, according to the report, leaders said they were unable to compile a database of perpetrators of sexual abuse – but kept a secret list of their own. The same week they released their report, they also released the secret list, which included hundreds of names of alleged criminals, including many convicted of sexual assault. “This is our fist in the gut,” Southern Baptist Convention President Ed Litton, pastor of Mobile Ala., Told an audience on Tuesday, referring to a report of sexual abuse. “We have to do something,” Leighton said. “We must do what is right and just in the sight of our God.” Andrew Hébert, pastor of about 1,000 Southern Baptists in Amarillo, Texas, who is part of the SBC Sexual Abuse Task Force, said the task force contacted about a dozen sexual abuse survivors listed in the report and asked them if they could apologize. by name from the stage. Southern Baptists will vote on Tuesday on sexual harassment recommendations by the panel. “I am just optimistic. “I think the Southern Baptists are ready to do the right thing,” said Hébert. “My sense is that this is a recognition that these are reforms of common sense.” On Tuesday morning, Southern Baptists released a list of nine resolutions they intend to vote on, including two on sexual abuse and others on abortion issues, Ukraine and Native Americans. A resolution on sexual harassment states that Southern Baptists urge state politicians to pass laws that provide consistent definitions of sexual harassment by pastors and also urge lawmakers to “strengthen churches by protecting them from civil liability for wrongdoing.” abuse “. In another resolution, they focus on the failures of the South Baptists Convention on Sexual Abuse, and name and apologize to specific survivors with their permission. In a resolution on abortions, Southern Baptists urge Supreme Court to overturn abortion-related precedents Roe vs. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. They also note a recent federal report on the troubled legacy of Native American federal policies, calling it “reprehensible the atrocities committed against these people in the name of religious” conversions. “ For years, survivors of sexual assault in ecclesiastical settings have urged churches to acknowledge the extent of the abuse. He helped create a movement called #ChurchToo, a spinoff of the broader #MeToo movement, calling on not only sexual predators but also religious leaders involved in cover-ups or other misuse of allegations of abuse. As the Southern Baptists gather, the right wing is sounding the alarm Like other conservative evangelical groups across the country, Southern Baptists have been divided in recent years over issues such as tribal justice, women preachers, and the fear of liberalism overcoming dogma. They are found every year in cities across the country. This year, about 8,800 people have registered, mostly from California and other states where many of the largest Southern Baptist churches are located. such as Texas, Tennessee and Georgia. The doctrine, which avoids a hierarchical structure and is strongly democratic, adopts resolutions each year that often signal the direction that thousands of its members want to follow. In 2021, the Convention adopted a resolution to abolish abortions, calling for an end to abortions in all cases, without exception. In recent years, there have been explosions of “alc-right white supremacy” and critical race theory. This time, the assembled Southern Baptists, called “messengers,” are expected to consider the revisions proposed by its sexual abuse working group, including the creation of a website to monitor abusive pastors and church workers. The name relief arm, Send Relief, announced it would set aside $ 4 million in existing funding to support the recommendations, including $ 1 million in survivors’ care. Rachael Denhollander, a lawyer, survivor and advocate advising SBC on abuse reform measures, said on Tuesday that if the reforms failed in the meeting, “it is a deadly thread for SBC. “What happened last year and the level of corruption and re-injury by SBC leaders have been revealed.” If SBC does not address the issue of sexual abuse, Denhollander said, “it’s the end of SBC as we know it.” “If they refuse to confront the evil that exists between them, it is a complete abandonment of their principles in a way that will cause them to leave the SBC,” he said. The report, released in May, also suggests that a prominent Southern Baptist leader, Johnny Hunt, was “credibly accused” of sexually assaulting a woman during a beach holiday in 2010, a month after his term as president expired. of SBC. He has denied the allegations of abuse on Twitter. The allegations shocked the southern Baptist world because Hunt had previously been beloved throughout the doctrine and guided young pastors. Highlights from the Southern Baptists’ Sexual Abuse Bomb Report Griffin Gulledge, a pastor who leads a community of more than 200 people in Madison, Ga., And is in Anaheim to vote this week, said he believes most Southern Baptists believe that sexual assault was covered by a small group The leaders of southern Baptists but that the vast majority want to be part of the solution. “Everyone I talk to says, ‘We want to do it right,’” he said. “And to do it right means to face what we have done in the past, to reform our systems and to send a message to the survivors that we ‘regret’ that we did not do in the past.” Messengers are also expected to elect their next leader, which could shape the direction of the 13.7 million-member doctrine. Leading candidates include Texas pastor Bart Barber, who has been a staunch supporter of sexual abuse reform. While still theologically conservative, it is considered more centered within the dogma. On Monday, Barber was photographed on Twitter talking to surviving sexual assailant Debbie Baskets, who was named in the sexual abuse report and spoke to messengers at a kiosk in the meeting rooms. In 2019, some abuse survivors were asked to stay out of meeting rooms because they were no longer Southern Baptists. Another top candidate, Florida Pastor Tom Askol, on the other hand, attacked the third-party investigation after Guidepost Solutions tweeted earlier this month in support of the LGBTQ community. “To whom did we give our tenth dollars? “I and 47,000 other SBC pastors, plus millions of loyal members, feel betrayed,” Askol wrote on Twitter. “We paid millions of dollars to an organization that affirms and proud LGBT to guide us in moral and spiritual matters !? Is there no fear of God? In a statement, Guidepost spokesman Montieth M. Illingworth said the organisation’s tweet reaffirmed its anti-discrimination stance. “We believe that our anti-discrimination stance only strengthens our ability to conduct independent, fair and impartial investigations such as our SBC investigation,” the statement said. “In addition, our work for faith-based organizations seeks to be consistent with the principles and practices of faith. At Guidepost Solutions SBC EC, we consulted christening policy experts to ensure that our recommendations were consistent with Baptist policy and practice. “ Askol has the support of the far-right wing of the doctrine, called the Conservative Baptist Network, and if elected or receiving a significant number of votes, he could indicate the future direction of the SBC. Askol is part of an abortion advocacy movement that believes the procedure should be illegal even if a pregnant woman’s life is in danger or in cases of rape or incest. Some of the sexual abuse survivors named in the report said they intended to be in Anaheim to push for change. Several of them recently published a list of recommendations, including setting up a survivors’ compensation fund, an independent commission to receive reports of abuse, and a memorial to abusive survivors outside the SBC offices in Nashville. Southern Baptists will decide if to sever ties with the Saddleback Church of California, one of the largest in the doctrine, which recently announced its plans to hire a female pastor. Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life, announced plans to retire this fall and appointed San Francisco Pastor Andy Wood as his successor. Wood’s wife, Stacie, would also become pastor at Saddleback Church in Orange County, joining three other pastors who were ordained last year. The ordinations renewed the battle between Southern Baptists over whether women could be considered pastors, as opposed to serving as preachers or Bible teachers. During last year’s meeting, a Louisiana pastor made a proposal to the SBC to “break the association” with Saddleback, as well as with all the other churches that ordained women pastors. The proposal is being considered by a committee, which could propose the expulsion of churches and could be voted on by Southern Baptists this week. Formal work will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday, although most important votes are expected on Tuesday.
