SBC Executive Committee chair Rolland Slade led committee members in a devotion on lament at the opening of a special-called meeting covering the 288-page report on the EC’s handling of sexual abuse claims in the denomination. “We are still processing,” the California pastor said. “We are lamenting, listening, and learning.”
In the 95-minute meeting, trustees heard recommendations concerning previous EC staff members who were named in the report for concealing claims of abuse and for holding a file of abuse claims and convictions of SBC clergy, while publicly saying such a database was impossible because of Baptist polity protecting the autonomy of local churches.
“We can’t come up with half-baked solutions,” Slade said. “We are not done, we have work to do.” Then he asserted, “Today is a change of direction.”
The report was the result of a seven-month investigation of EC actions relating to abuse since 2000. The document released May 22 produced findings called by secular media “bombshell” and by Southern Baptists as “grievous.” More than 400 claims were documented, and the names of previous EC CEOs Ronnie Floyd, Frank Page, and Morris Chapman cited in failure to act on the claims in order to protect the denomination from lawsuits such as those that have bankrupted many Catholic dioceses.
The investigation was ordered by messengers at the 2021 SBC Annual Meeting and contracted by the Sexual Abuse Task Force that messengers ordered incoming president Ed Litton to appoint. The task force engaged Guidepost Solutions, an outside investigation company, to interview EC employees, trustees, and abuse survivors.
The resulting report cost $2.7 million.
It detailed cases known but unreported by prominent pastors and leaders. New information resulted in the resignation of longtime Georgia pastor Johnny Hunt from his position as Vice-President of Evangelism for the North American Mission Board. Guidepost said allegations of physical assault of a pastor’s wife and subsequent cover-up were “credible.”
“We are sorry to the survivors for all we have done to cause pain,” Interim EC President and CEO Willie McLaurin said. “On behalf of all Southern Baptists, I want to issue a formal apology to all survivors.”
One survivor, Hannah Kate Williams, filed a lawsuit against the SBC, Southern Seminary, and Lifeway May 20. The 27-year-old alleges the organizations failed to protect her as a child from the abuse of her father who was an employee of the seminary’s run day camp and Lifeway campus bookstore. Williams says she reported the abuse, but no action was taken.
“At this moment phones are ringing in the SBC with more survivors calling to report,” EC Interim Counsel Gene Besen said. The EC staff working with Guidepost Solutions to continue the hotline they used during the investigation, so those calling can be directed to get the help they need.
In a later statement, McLaurin said the EC staff is currently working with Guidepost Solutions to enter an agreement “to provide and operate a hotline number for all individuals calling various Baptist entities and Guidepost to report abuse.” He reiterated the EC’s commitment to ensuring “each and every individual impacted by sexual abuse within the SBC” would have a place to “process their story, report their abuse, and have access to care and caring resources.” Within 24 hours the hotline was established.
SBC President Ed Litton, who will preside over presentation of the Guidepost Solutions report at the Annual Meeting in Anaheim and the resulting recommendations from the Sexual Abuse Task Force, continued to urge transparency in reporting the SBC’s failures.
“Why are you being so transparent?” Litton said he was asked by a reporter this week.
He replied, “Because a great wrong has taken place.” Litton told EC trustees, “A world is watching; they don’t need to see business as usual.”
After several procedural moves, EC trustees approved a public statement.
“As Southern Baptists review Guidepost’s report and the recommendations of the Sexual Abuse Task Force, the SBC Executive Committee would like to address statements it has previously made, including, but not limited to, the September 29, 2006 statement by then-SBC general counsel, D. August Boto, in which he concludes that a ‘continued discourse between us [the Executive Committee and Survivor advocates] will not be positive or fruitful.’”
Boto’s actions shutting down engagement with survivors of abuse are cited in the Guidepost Solutions report. The EC statement continued, “The SBC Executive Committee rejects this sentiment in its entirety and seeks to publicly repent for its failure to rectify this position and wholeheartedly listen to survivors.
“Today, in the aftermath of the report’s release, the SBC Executive Committee seeks to make clear that it views engaging with survivors as a critical step towards healing our Convention from the scourge of sexual abuse and working to avoid its continued impact on our loved ones, their families, and our network of churches,” the statement said.
EC trustees present on the quickly called meeting unanimously approved the statement.
“We need to be gentle with survivors,” interim EC counsel Scarlett Nokes told trustees when asked by Litton for guidance on response to inquiries. “And we need to be gentle with one another.”
The EC will release the once-secret list of abuses, including 700 entries, once the names of survivors and confidential witnesses, and unsubstantiated allegations are redacted, Besen said. A few hours later, McLaurin issued another statement reporting the “work is being done as quickly as possible, with an anticipated release date of Thursday, May 26.” He also noted “additional information will be provided with the release of the list.”
“Our time today is just the beginning,” Slade told trustees. “Now is the time to change the culture.”
A summary list of five recommendations submitted by Guidepost Solutions will be drafted as motions by the Sexual Abuse Task Force and submitted for approval by messengers at the SBC Annual Meeting in Anaheim June 14-15.