Southern Baptists: Dispute over abuse hotline reveals how far the SBC still has to go
BOB SMIETANA, of Religion News Service, reports that while a group of Southern Baptist leaders is working to implement a set of reforms to respond better to sexual abuse, many survivors still distrust them…
Rachael Denhollander named Calvin University’s 2021 Kuyper Prize recipient
RNS Activist and abuse survivor Rachael Denhollander will be awarded the 2021 Abraham Kuyper Prize for Excellence in Reformed Theology and Public Life, Calvin University announced Tuesday. Denhollander will receive the prize, which includes a $US10,000 award, and deliver a lecture at a 15th December event hosted by Calvin University and Calvin Theological Seminary in […]
Probe of Southern Baptist sex abuse response moves forward
Nashville, Tennessee, USAP Rev Marshall Blalock feels the weight of his new responsibility. The South Carolina pastor serves as vice chair of a recently formed Southern Baptist Convention taskforce charged with overseeing an investigation into how a top denominational committee handled sex abuse allegations, a review that comes years into the SBC’s public reckoning with […]
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 […]
Ahead of US meeting, pressure mounts for an independent investigation of SBC executive committee handling of abuse
RNS The chairman of the Southern Baptist Convention’s executive committee plans to call for an independent investigation into the committee’s handling of sexual abuse claims when it meets next week in Nashville, Tennessee. Rolland Slade, pastor of Meridian Baptist Church in El Cajon, California, said he would also support a proposal from two Southern Baptist pastors […]
Rachael Denhollander: Christian colleges key in declaring sex abuse is ‘evil’
Washington DC, USRNS Abuse survivor and activist Rachael Denhollander brought her advocacy to presidents of evangelical colleges, urging them at their annual conference to not discount sexual abuse but to instead support survivors who report it. “As Christian institutions you are the most equipped to condemn sexual abuse and objectification,” she told dozens of attendees […]
Controversial Founders Ministries video leads to board resignations, #MeToo concerns
RNS Several board members have resigned from a neo-Calvinist evangelical group that released a trailer of a planned film linking prominent Southern Baptists with a conspiracy to promote social justice advocacy in evangelical churches. The resignations, announced 1st August by Founders Ministries President Tom Ascol, come as some Southern Baptist leaders interviewed for the film […]
Women sex abuse survivors tell Southern Baptists: “Our family is sick”
Birmingham, Alabama, USRNS Three women who experienced sexual abuse took center stage on Monday to address how the nation’s largest Protestant denomination should deal with the issue. And they didn’t mince words. Southern Baptist author and speaker Beth Moore speaks during a panel on sexual abuse in the Southern Baptist Convention at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention […]
US Southern Baptist leaders plan to remedy “insufficient” approach to abuse claims
RNS Southern Baptists hope to take steps at their upcoming annual meeting in Birmingham, Alabama, to address continuing reports of sexual abuse in their denomination. Leaders of the nation’s largest – but declining – Protestant denomination will consider an amendment that would allow the Southern Baptist Convention to remove from its ranks a church that […]
In the US, Southern Baptist executive group urges caution before investigating church abuse
RNS A Southern Baptist working group urged a cautious approach in investigating churches linked to allegations of sex abuse but has agreed that three of 10 churches named by Southern Baptist Convention President JD Greear in a report about sex abuse last week should be investigated. In the seven other cases, the group said no […]