A task force appointed by Southern Baptist Convention President Ed Litton has selected Guidepost Solutions to oversee a third-party review of the SBC Executive Committee’s past handling of sexual abuse issues.
According to a statement released by the task force, Guidepost Solutions was selected in part due to its “extensive background in abuse, trauma, and abusive dynamics, with considerable background involving abuse in religious contexts, significant experience with corporate and legal dynamics which contribute to the mishandling of or proper responses to, sexual abuse, survivor care and abuse prevention,” and its “robust understanding of and focus on the impact of leadership, with significant skill assessing and reporting on cultural dynamics of an institution and their impact on abuse and abuse prevention.”
Guidepost’s “in-depth understanding of best-standards practices for investigations and assessments with the ability to provide clear guidance and input to the task force on best methods for pursuing transparency, accountability, and reform in the investigative process” was also commended in the task force release.
Messengers approved the formation of the task force at the 2021 SBC Annual Meeting in June just five days after the Executive Committee had announced Guidepost would conduct a similar review at its own request. The Executive Committee-commissioned review was subsequently put on hold pending the actions of the task force.
In a statement released to Baptist Press, the SBC Executive Committee welcomed the announcement saying: “Now, nearly three months after the Annual Meeting, the Executive Committee welcomes the announcement that Guidepost Solutions has been chosen by the task force to conduct the third-party inquiry of the Executive Committee.”
Rolland Slade, Executive Committee chairman, also affirmed the Guidepost selection in a statement saying “I thank the task force for their diligence in selecting Guidepost Solutions. Now that we know the firm, we can all move forward to the next steps. As I asked in June, please be patient with all of us as we walk this road together. We want make sure we do things right.”
Read the Task Force’s and Executive Committee’s Statements along with Baptist Press’ full report.