In the US, Southern Baptists who backed open abuse review win key roles
Anaheim, California, USAP The newly elected leaders of a top Southern Baptist Convention committee had all supported a more transparent investigation into allegations the denomination mishandled sex abuse reports and mistreated survivors. They defeated candidates who had opposed that move. Members of the Executive Committee picked Texas pastor Jared Wellman as chair, South Carolina pastor […]
Southern Baptists: Key issues set to be discussed at annual gathering
BOB SMIETANA, of Religion News Service, takes a look at some of the major issues at stake in this week’s annual meeting of the largest Protestant denomination in the US…
In the US, SBC abuse taskforce requests $US3 million for reforms, ‘Ministry Check’ website
United StatesRNS A Southern Baptist taskforce has asked the denomination to set up a “Ministry Check” website to track abusive pastors, church employees and volunteers and to spend millions on reforms to prevent abuse and care for survivors. Most of the suggested reforms are voluntary. Some could involve years of study and preparation, prompting a skeptical […]
In the US, Southern Baptist leaders release secret accused abuser list
United StatesAP In response to an explosive investigation, top Southern Baptists have released a previously secret list of hundreds of pastors and other church-affiliated personnel accused of sexual abuse. The 205-page database was made public late on Thursday. It includes more than 700 entries from cases that largely span from 2000 to 2019. A cross […]
In the US, Southern Baptists face push for public list of sex abusers
United StatesAP A blistering report on the Southern Baptist Convention’s mishandling of sex abuse allegations is raising the prospect that the denomination, for the first time, will create a publicly accessible database of pastors and other church personnel known to be abusers. The creation of an “Offender Information System” was one of the key recommendations […]
Updated: Top Southern Baptists stonewalled sex abuse victims – US report
Updated: 8:45am, 24th May, 2022United StatesAP The Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee – and thousands of its rank-and-file members – now have opportunities to address a scathing investigative report that says top SBC leaders stonewalled and denigrated survivors of clergy sex abuse over two decades while seeking to protect their own reputations. The report, issued […]
Guidepost report: RZIM leaders were blinded by loyalty, spent donor money to sue a survivor
RNS A newly released report on the internal culture at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries found that leaders at the ministry were blinded by loyalty to the founder, overlooked Zacharias’ misconduct for years, used ministry funds to sue an abuse survivor and misled the public. The report from Guidepost Solutions was released Wednesday, seven months after the board […]
What to expect at this week’s Southern Baptist Executive Committee meeting
Nashville, Tennessee, USRNS After four months of relative peace and quiet, the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee will meet this week, their first in-person gathering since a series of contentious meetings led to the resignation of more than a dozen committee members. The Nashville-based Executive Committee, which oversees the business of the nation’s largest Protestant […]
Top Southern Baptist committee funds sex abuse probe
Nashville, Tennessee, USAP A top Southern Baptist Convention committee agreed Tuesday to fund a third-party investigation into its handling of sexual abuse allegations but held off on waiving its attorney-client privilege for the probe, delaying for the future a decision seen as a key demand of the thousands of Southern Baptists who set the review […]
Southern Baptist executive committee hires Guidepost Solutions to review Moore allegations
RNS Responding to allegations that it has mishandled allegations of abuse in the past, the Southern Baptist Convention’s executive committee announced Friday that it had retained a firm to “conduct an independent review of its processes,” according to a statement from Ronnie Floyd, president of the executive committee. The review by Guidepost Solutions comes in […]