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 known to be abusers
FILE - In this Tuesday, June 11, 2019 file photo, Jules Woodson, center, of Colorado Springs, Colo., is comforted by her boyfriend Ben Smith, left, and Christa Brown during a demonstration outside the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting in Birmingham, Ala. First-time attendee Woodson spoke through tears as she described being abused sexually by a Southern Baptist minister.
He expressed hope that the shocking findings in the Guidepost report will bring “lasting change” to the SBC, America’s largest Protestant denomination. It has been losing membership steadily in recent years, while being wracked by internal divisions over race and gender roles. Reading the Guidepost report, Gaines said he was struck by repeated examples of a callous disregard for survivors, as well as leaders prioritizing protection of the SBC from liability over abuse prevention.
The final decisions about recommendations to submit to the Anaheim delegates will be made by the SBC's Sexual Abuse Task Force, comprising seven members and two advisors. Its work over the past year has been an emotional journey, said Pastor Bruce Frank, who led the group. “Our main goal should be preventing sexual abuse,” he said. “And if abuse does occur, how do we care for survivors in a much better pastoral way? How can we better communicate to make sure don’t go from one church to another?”“Any person who is fair-minded will look at what’s in that report and demand that things be better,” Frank said. “SBC is a big family with 48,000 churches. There might be some disagreement on how to make things better.
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