Probe of Southern Baptist sex abuse response moves forward

3 years ago 259

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Rev. Marshall Blalock feels the value of his caller responsibility.

The South Carolina pastor serves arsenic vice seat of a precocious formed Southern Baptist Convention task unit charged with overseeing an probe into however a apical denominational committee handled enactment maltreatment allegations, a reappraisal that comes years into the SBC's nationalist reckoning with the scandal.

Blalock thinks the enactment of the task force, acceptable into question successful June by a ballot of Southern Baptists astatine a nationalist gathering, could beryllium a foundational portion of however the SBC addresses the contented successful the future.

“If the task unit does what the convention's asked america to do, if the Executive Committee responds favorably, I deliberation we’re making immense archetypal steps toward truly mounting the aboriginal toward preventing and appropriately responding to and caring for intersexual maltreatment survivors,” Blalock said.

The enactment maltreatment ungraded was thrust into the spotlight successful 2019 by a landmark study from the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News documenting hundreds of cases successful Southern Baptist churches, including respective successful which alleged perpetrators remained successful ministry.

Appointed by caller SBC President Ed Litton, the seven-member task unit of pastoral, legal, counseling and advocacy professionals is charged with overseeing an extracurricular firm's probe of allegations that the Executive Committee mishandled maltreatment cases, resisted reforms and intimidated victims and advocates.

“We’re bushed of abuse, and it has to beryllium dealt with,” Litton, who was elected successful June amid divisions implicit race, women's roles successful the religion and however to code the maltreatment issue, said during a caller event. “But I besides deliberation a wide connection came retired that this is not a witch hunt. That this is an accidental for america to pave the mode for the future.”

More than 2 months in, the task unit has completed 2 cardinal tasks: picking Guidepost Solutions to beryllium the third-party steadfast conducting the probe, and asking the Executive Committee to waive attorney-client privilege for the purposes of the probe astatine its upcoming concern meeting.

“It’s each astir uncovering the information truthful we tin woody with it,” said the Rev. Bruce Frank, a North Carolina pastor and task unit chair.

The Executive Committee has welcomed the enactment of Guidepost, noting it is the aforesaid investigative steadfast it had planned to usage earlier the task unit was formed.

“We look guardant to gathering again with Guidepost successful bid to expeditiously coordinate our activities successful enactment of their important work,” the committee said this period successful a statement.

Jules Woodson, a religion intersexual maltreatment subsister based successful Colorado Springs, Colorado, remains wary but is hopeful that meaningful alteration whitethorn beryllium up for the SBC. She was encouraged aft gathering with the task force, she said, and is consenting to prosecute with Guidepost adjacent though she is inactive skeptical of the firm.

“It is truthful hard arsenic a subsister to enactment faith, anticipation and spot successful radical and processes and a strategy that has continuously failed us,” Woodson said. “For the archetypal clip successful forever, we are yet seeing steps being taken successful the close direction.”

She said she cried tears of joyousness erstwhile the trustees of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, the SBC's nationalist argumentation arm, precocious indicated the ERLC is consenting to pb an appraisal of intersexual maltreatment wrong the denomination, and acceptable a program successful question to fig retired however to bash it.

“The evil of maltreatment indispensable proceed to beryllium confronted," Brent Leatherwood, the commission's acting president, said successful a statement. “As we’ve stated before, our churches indispensable beryllium harmless for survivors and harmless from abuse.”

The question approved by delegates astatine the June gathering directed the task unit to hold to the standards and champion practices recommended by the third-party investigator, “including but not constricted to the Executive Committee unit and members waiving lawyer lawsuit privilege successful bid to guarantee afloat entree to accusation and accuracy successful the review.”

Frank, the task unit chair, sent a ceremonial petition Aug. 2 for privilege to beryllium waived, calling it “critical to guarantee afloat entree to applicable information, implicit accountability and transparency, and decently measure steps for reform.”

The Executive Committee did not marque a committedness successful its statement, but says it is not opposed successful rule to specified a petition and “speculation to the contrary is net rumor and untrue.” The committee meets Monday and Tuesday and is expected to instrumentality up the waiver issue.

Executive Committee Chair Rolland Slade said helium supports the petition due to the fact that it is the volition of the members astatine the June conference: “We person the work to execute and to observe the wishes of the messengers.”

Attorney and advocator Rachael Denhollander, who is 1 of 2 advisers to the task force, said identifying, recognizing and acknowledging information is important to making meaningful and effectual change.

“If the enforcement committee decides not to waive privilege, past they are sending a wide connection that they’re rejecting accountability and transparency,” Denhollander said.

Woodson said each would not beryllium mislaid successful specified a scenario, but the onus would erstwhile again beryllium placed connected survivors.

“How galore times," she said, "do we person to travel guardant and archer our stories implicit and implicit and implicit again?”

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Associated Press religion sum receives enactment from the Lilly Endowment done The Conversation U.S. The AP is solely liable for this content.

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