SBC Leaders Misled, Covered Up and Bullied Abuse Victims for Years
Russell Moore: This is the Southern Baptist Apocalypse
Yes, Dr. Moore, you are exactly right. This is the Southern Baptist Apocalypse. And it is a grieving, heart-wrenching experience for those of us who were raised in its churches.
Baptist News Global: A Pattern of Denial and Deflecting in SBC Sex Abuse Crisis
As difficult as it is for many Southern Baptists to admit, sexual abuse scandals have been as prevalent among their pastors, church staff and denominational leadership as they have been in the Catholic Church, and they are no different in this regard than the whole spectrum of Christianity. Claiming to be more "conservative," more theologically correct, more "Bible-believing" than other Christians does not make a denomination any more pure, moral or less inclined to spectacular sins. Christian theology teaches that all human beings are sinners and are subject to temptation, and even though God does provide a "way out," not everyone takes it.
The culmination of this investigation in the Southern Baptist Convention revealed some things about the way the denomination is structured that made it more difficult for leaders to deal with accusations and reports of sexual abuse in the churches. I contend that it was the structure, and the culture that has developed within the SBC during its existence, along with its theology and doctrine, that made it impossible to deal with this issue in an appropriate manner consistent with Christian principles.
Though I don't remember, my first experience in a Southern Baptist church was in the nursery, as an infant. I do remember the pre-school, or "beginners" Sunday School class I attended every week, and as I got older the other groups in the small church in which I grew up. I was baptized into church membership at age 6, if not actually converted to Christ at that point, was there whenever the church doors were opened, got my B.A. in a Southern Baptist-related university, and after a "genuine" baptism at age 22, was a member of an SBC affiliated church until I made a deliberate decision to leave two decades ago.
So for those who are following the developments of this story, some insights into how Southern Baptists do things might be helpful.
Denominational Identity and Church Culture
The Southern Baptist Convention was formed in 1845, prior to the Civil War, as a result of the refusal of the larger body of American Baptists, known as the Triennial Convention of Philadelphia, to appoint slave owners as overseas missionaries. From that point on, the Baptists in the southern states were separated from those in the north, and developed a very unique culture that was strongly connected to the cultural institutions of the Antebellum South. After the war, which devastated many churches and scattered their membership, it was the only place in most communities where white people could come together and experience something that reminded them of life prior to the war.
The church culture is a combination of segregated, working class and rural whites, around a conservative theology which emphasizes belief in the Bible as "inerrant," or without human error in its authorship, and infallible, or completely authoritative, extending beyond spiritual matters into all subject areas, including being the final authority on science and human psychology. There is a strong belief in evangelism, converting the "lost" people to faith in Jesus by direct confrontational methods.
Churches practice "congregational" authority, which means that all members are able to vote on church decisions, including who they will call as their pastor, and who is appointed to church leadership positions like elders or deacons. That is in theory, anyway. In actual practice, in most churches a small group of individuals hold the reins of power, and all church decisions must have their approval.
The denomination itself operates in very much the same way. In theory, all of its affiliated or "cooperating" churches can elect delegates to the annual meeting, or "messengers" as the are called, and all denominational business is conducted by voting on it. However, the organizational structure is a throwback to the days of the Confederacy, with a small group of influential people determining what business gets to the floor of the convention to be voted on. The convention president has the power to appoint a single committee which then appoints the members of the committee on committees which nominates all of the candidates for each open trustee board seat, executive board seat or committee seat, including the important "committee on order of business" which decides what the messengers will vote on.
Also, the trustees of the governing boards of the denomination's agencies, including its six seminaries, two mission boards, Lifeway publishers and the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, are "elected" by the convention, but they are first nominated by the committee on committees, and then elected as a group by either a yes or no vote from the floor. It is a very complicated and difficult process for a messenger from the floor to change a name on a slate of nominees. So whoever is the president of the SBC determines who, from among a very small and elite group of insiders, gets to run the denomination's institutions and agencies and control its business agenda.
So it is the president of the SBC who determines the business of the convention. And what you find, among this inner circle of elite oligarchs, are friends and relatives of the officers or insiders who move off one trustee board and on to another, off one committee and on to another. When an executive position in one of the mission boards, seminaries or commissions becomes available, the person hired will be someone from within this inner circle, chosen because of who they know, not what they can do. And they will go into their position with a board stacked in their favor who will protect their incompetence and cover up their mistakes in order to stay in power.
If you look at the list of names, starting on Page 149 of the GuidePost report, of those who were implicated either for perpetuating sexual abuse themselves or for failing to report it at the executive committee level, every single one of them, with one exception, had served as a president of the SBC at some point, and they've all served on multiple committees and trustee boards. In spite of the claims of the "conservative resurgence" to which they all had to pledge loyalty to get where they were, their interests were centered on holding on to power and using it for their own advantage.
A Denominational Culture in Which You Can Nominate or Hire Yourself
In addition to the hard blow that has already been felt by the SBC after just one day of the GuidePost report being released, this quirky, insider-oriented "business model," if you want to call it that, combined with decades of "conservative" and fundamentalist leadership, has led to the ruinous decline of Southern Baptist institutions, mission boards, its publishing house and at least one of its seminaries. Putting friends into executive leadership based on who they know, not on what they can do, doesn't produce competent leadership.
One of the "architects" of the conservative resurgence claimed two prized executive positions for himself. He wanted Southwestern Seminary in Ft. Worth from the beginning, but the seat was occupied by someone else that another influence peddler had helped obtain. So initially, he was given the presidency of Southeastern Seminary in North Carolina. His only administrative experience prior to leading a seminary of that size had been as president of a broken down, church-run, financially strapped Bible college with 150 students in Dallas. But he had persisted in helping conservatives gain control of the SBC so he could have build his own empire anywhere he wanted. He named what he wanted and the trustees gave it to him.
He left Southeastern with some financial difficulty, declines in enrollment and faculty vacancies caused by low pay and low morale. When he arrived in Ft. Worth, Southwestern was still the crown jewel of SBC seminaries, the largest theological school in the world, responsible for one third of all degrees granted among the six SBC schools. When he was finally fired, for failing to report a rape and for "breaking down" an on-campus rape victim, only Midwestern and Gateway seminaries had smaller enrollments, and Southwestern was a shell of its former self. Trustees, most of whom he hand-picked, were finally forced to let him go because of something they couldn't ignore and which put the school at risk of litigation. But for years, they had ignored the problems created by failed leadership.
The other "architect" of the resurgence never aspired to be elected to the presidency, but used his influence to get seats on numerous boards, including the executive committee, from which he pushed his agenda and made sure his sycophants got positions of influence. He was a johnny-come-lately to Southern Baptist life, coming from a Presbyterian church that had ousted him from its youth ministry staff. He is one of the two individuals at the executive level who are actually accused of being perpetrators of sexual abuse.
Lots of Handwringing, Regrets and Public Shows of Repentance are on the Way
Let's give credit where credit is due here. I'm not sure much of this would have ever seen the light of day if it were not for the efforts of the SBC's immediate past-president, J. D. Greear, a North Carolina pastor who recognized the entrenched, stagnant leadership in the denomination and made a clear effort to appoint fresh faces and names based on their integrity, ability and willingness to serve, and not on their connections. Greear providentially--and I use that word intentionally--got a third term to serve, and to influence committee appointments, meaning that there were enough non-connected members of the executive committee and other convention committees to prevent the information in the expose done by the Houston Chronicle from getting buried in the bureaucracy.
Greear also exercised wisdom and discernment as the issue came before the floor of the convention. Claiming that "bureacratic mumbo jumbo and legalese" had interfered with the convention's ability to do the right thing. He had taken an interest in doing something ever since the newspaper reports were released and in the position of president, allowed Tennessee pastor Grant Gaines to make the open motion to put a task force in place, and give it carte blanche to investigate, separate from any supervision or interference by the executive committee. It passed overwhelmingly.
Current SBC president Ed Litton took things a step further, appointing a completely independent, non-connected task force which pushed and pressed forward. Many of those elected to the executive committee during Greear's tenure were among those who kept pushing and insisting that the members waive privilege, which was the key to the investigation's success. A number of EC members, mostly well-connected insiders, read the handwriting on the wall and resigned, one of the best things that could have happened to the SBC under its current leadership, which will get to replace all of those members with fresh names and faces not connected to the inner circle elites. Any of the rest who were around before Greear's presidency should step down now, and get out of the way.
Frankly, it is far too late to make amends with the victims. Trust can't be regained by a "solemn assembly" and some tearful repentance. It's a hollow gesture, but financial restitution is not only warranted, but is necessary if any repentant attitude is to be taken seriously. Most of those who will gather in convention halls as messengers were enablers of the abuse by continuing to support leadership that they knew didn't belong there. A public display of repentance by many of the same people who showed up year after year and kept these people in power would be meaningless.
Twenty years ago, I made a deliberate choice to leave the membership of the Southern Baptist church where I had been an active member for over a decade. My head and heart had left a long time before then, but habits are hard to break. I have never been able to reconcile claims that the Bible is without error, in a church that is without genuine love for all of its neighbors, unwilling to turn the other cheek and who makes enemies to fight with in order to advance their own position. That, along with the heretical apostasy of right wing politics codified into doctrine and theology and preached as truth, told me that it was time to go and never look back.
For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Paul, the Apostle, Epistle to the Galatians, Chapter 5:1.
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