Southern Baptist agency says U.S. investigation into sexual abuse has ended with ‘no further action’
10 months ago

Southern Baptist agency says U.S. investigation into sexual abuse has ended with ‘no further action’

Associated Press  

A Southern Baptist Convention leader said Wednesday the U.S. Department of Justice has ended its investigation of a top denominational agency’s handling of sexual abuse and doesn’t anticipate further action. The statement by Jonathan Howe, interim president of the denomination’s Executive Committee, said the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York informed the committee’s legal counsel on Feb. 29 that there is “no further action to be taken” in the probe. “While we are grateful for closure on this particular matter, we recognize that sexual abuse reform efforts must continue to be implemented across the Convention,” Howe said in a statement. The reported end of the federal investigation “does not lessen SBC’s moral responsibility for grievous harms,” said Christa Brown, a longtime advocate for survivors of abuse in Southern Baptist settings.

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History of this topic

Southern Baptists oust one church for having woman pastor, two others over sexual-abuse policy
10 months, 2 weeks ago

Southern Baptists oust one church for having woman pastor, two others over sexual-abuse policy

Associated Press  

The Southern Baptist Convention’s top administrative body voted Tuesday to oust four congregations — one for having a woman as senior minister, two for what it said were failures related to the denomination’s sexual-abuse policy and one for lack of financial participation. Katie McKown to serve with and among us.” It cited Baptist tenets emphasizing the autonomy of congregations and …

Southern Baptist Convention settles lawsuit that accused former judge of sexual abuse
1 year ago

Southern Baptist Convention settles lawsuit that accused former judge of sexual abuse

Raw Story  

The Southern Baptist Convention and others have reached a confidential settlement in a high-profile lawsuit that accused a former leader of sexual assault, ending a six-year legal drama that helped prompt a broader reckoning over child sexual abuse in evangelical churches, expanded victims’ rights in Texas and showed that a prominent conservative activist and Texas House candidate repeatedly downplayed abuse …

Opinion: What is the Southern Baptists’ problem with women?
1 year, 6 months ago

Opinion: What is the Southern Baptists’ problem with women?

LA Times  

Rick Warren, founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Orange County, makes an appeal at the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention on Tuesday to reinstate his church. “Messengers” of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination ratified the expulsion of two congregations — one of them Saddleback Church in Lake Forest — for condoning the ordination of women. Founded in 1980 …

Southern Baptists refuse to take back megachurch because it has women pastors
1 year, 6 months ago

Southern Baptists refuse to take back megachurch because it has women pastors

Associated Press  

NEW ORLEANS — The Southern Baptist Convention has refused to welcome Saddleback Church back into its fold, rejecting an appeal by the California megachurch over its February ouster for having women pastors. Southern Baptist church representatives at their annual meeting here also rejected a similar appeal by a smaller church, Fern Creek Baptist of Louisville, Kentucky, which is led by …

Southern Baptists cut ties with LGBTQ-friendly church
2 years, 3 months ago

Southern Baptists cut ties with LGBTQ-friendly church

Associated Press  

The Southern Baptist Convention’s top administrative body voted to cut ties with two congregations on Tuesday — an LGBTQ-friendly church in North Carolina that had itself quit the denomination decades ago and a New Jersey congregation it cited for “alleged discriminatory behavior.” The votes of the Executive Committee came at the end of a two-day meeting in Nashville, Tennessee, even …

Southern Baptists say denomination faces DOJ investigation
2 years, 4 months ago

Southern Baptists say denomination faces DOJ investigation

Associated Press  

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention said Friday that several of the denomination’s major entities are under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice in the wake of its multiple problems related to clergy sex abuse. The statement from SBC leaders — including Executive Committee members, seminary presidents and heads of mission organizations — gave few details …

Southern Baptists say denomination faces Justice Department investigation
2 years, 4 months ago

Southern Baptists say denomination faces Justice Department investigation

LA Times  

The exterior of the Southern Baptist Convention headquarters in Nashville. Leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention said Friday that several of the denomination’s major entities are under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice in the wake of its multiple problems related to clergy sex abuse. The statement from SBC leaders — including executive committee members, seminary presidents and heads …

Q&A: Talking about the Southern Baptist sex abuse scandal with Pastor P.J. Tibayan
2 years, 6 months ago

Q&A: Talking about the Southern Baptist sex abuse scandal with Pastor P.J. Tibayan

LA Times  

More than 8,000 Southern Baptists will descend on Anaheim next week for the annual meeting of the largest Protestant denomination in the United States — the first time in 41 years that the two-day meeting has been held in California. The gathering comes just weeks after the release of an explosive 288-page report commissioned by the Southern Baptist Convention, that …

Southern Baptist leaders release secret accused abuser list
2 years, 7 months ago

Southern Baptist leaders release secret accused abuser list

Associated Press  

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. Its existence became widely known Sunday when the independent firm, Guidepost Solutions, included it in its bombshell report detailing how the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee mishandled allegations of sex abuse, stonewalled numerous …

Top Southern Baptists plan to release secret list of abusers
2 years, 7 months ago

Top Southern Baptists plan to release secret list of abusers

Associated Press  

Top administrative leaders for the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination in America, said Tuesday that they will release a secret list of hundreds of pastors and other church-affiliated personnel accused of sexual abuse. An attorney for the SBC’s Executive Committee announced the decision during a virtual meeting called in response to a scathing investigative report detailing how the …

Southern Baptists face push for public list of sex abusers
2 years, 7 months ago

Southern Baptists face push for public list of sex abusers

Associated Press  

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 in a report released Sunday by Guidepost …

Report: Top Southern Baptists stonewalled sex abuse victims
2 years, 7 months ago

Report: Top Southern Baptists stonewalled sex abuse victims

Associated Press  

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 Sunday, says these survivors, and other concerned Southern Baptists, repeatedly shared …

Southern Baptist leaders apologize to sex abuse survivor
2 years, 10 months ago

Southern Baptist leaders apologize to sex abuse survivor

Associated Press  

The Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee has offered a public apology and a confidential monetary settlement to sexual abuse survivor Jennifer Lyell, who was mischaracterized by the denomination’s in-house news service when she decided to go public with her story in March 2019. Slade’s statement also acknowledged Baptist Press’ inaccurate reporting and the committee’s failure to clarify that her allegations …

Top Southern Baptist committee funds sex abuse probe
3 years, 3 months ago

Top Southern Baptist committee funds sex abuse probe

Associated Press  

NASHVILLE, Tennessee — 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 in motion. They also directed …

Southern Baptists vote to probe leaders’ sex abuse response
3 years, 6 months ago

Southern Baptists vote to probe leaders’ sex abuse response

Associated Press  

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Delegates at the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to create a task force to oversee an independent investigation into the denomination’s handling of sexual abuse. Separately, the convention approved its most absolutist statement yet in opposition to abortion, a resolution calling for its immediate banning without exception and calling it a “crime against humanity …

Sex abuse crisis tops agenda as Southern Baptists convene
5 years, 7 months ago

Sex abuse crisis tops agenda as Southern Baptists convene

Associated Press  

The Southern Baptist Convention gathers for its annual national meeting Tuesday with one sobering topic — sex abuse by clergy and staff — overshadowing all others. 1 recommendation is for Southern Baptists to “enter a season of sorrow and repentance.” Ahead of next week’s meeting, there’s been a surge of debate — much of it waged on social media — …

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