All posts tagged: Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force

What is happening with the SBC and the Department of Justice?

What is happening with the SBC and the Department of Justice?

Published by Sam

(RNS) — Last week, lawyers for the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee say they were contacted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and were told an investigation into the committee’s handling of sexual abuse had been closed. News about the status of the investigation eventually leaked, and on Wednesday (March 6), the interim head of the Executive Committee confirmed the investigation was concluded “with no future action to be taken.” That news came as a surprise to abuse survivors and advocates such as Megan Lively and Tiffany Thigpen. They reached out to Department of Justice investigators, who they say told them the investigation was ongoing. Both said they were told the lead DOJ investigator had no more questions for the Executive Committee and but that the investigation remains open. “The lead investigator from the DOJ concerning this investigation was as surprised as we were by these reports. She answered both Megan and I immediately when we called (separately) and said the investigation is very much open and active,” Thigpen …

Heads of SBC mission boards say they will not fund new abuse reform nonprofit

Heads of SBC mission boards say they will not fund new abuse reform nonprofit

Published by Sam

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (RNS) — Leaders of two major Southern Baptist mission boards said they will not help fund a proposed independent nonprofit meant to implement the denomination’s abuse reforms. Plans for the nonprofit were announced on Monday night (Feb. 19) during a meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee. Leaders of the SBC’s Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force said the new nonprofit is needed to make those reforms a reality. “Given the current legal and financial challenges facing the SBC and the Executive Committee, the formation of a new, independent organization is the only viable path that will allow progress toward abuse reform to continue unencumbered and without delay,” Josh Wester, the North Carolina pastor who chairs the ARITF, told members of the SBC’s Executive Committee. “To do this, we have to do this together.” Wester said he hoped leaders of the SBC’s entities, including its North American Mission Board, International Mission Board and seminaries, along with SBC President Bart Barber, would help find funding for the proposed nonprofit, known as the Abuse Response …

SBC abuse task force plans to start new nonprofit to oversee abuse database and reforms

SBC abuse task force plans to start new nonprofit to oversee abuse database and reforms

Published by Sam

NASHVILLE (RNS) — Leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention’s abuse reform task force announced plans Monday (Feb. 19) to launch a new, independent nonprofit to host a database of abuse pastors and to implement other reforms. They still need the money to run it. The new nonprofit will oversee a proposed Ministry Check website listing abusive pastors, which has stalled since a website for the abuse reforms was launched last year. Currently, no names of pastors are included on the website, sbcabuseprevention.com Josh Wester, a North Carolina pastor who chairs the SBC’s abuse reform implementation task force, said the new nonprofit, which he called an abuse response commission, will be independent of the SBC’s current structure.  He said the job of abuse reform was too big for a task force of volunteers to accomplish on their own. That led to the plan to launch a new organization. “Given the current legal and financial challenges facing the SBC and the Executive Committee, the formation of a new independent organization is the only viable path that will …

A Southern Baptist leader hid decades of abuse. Will his fall doom SBC abuse reforms?

A Southern Baptist leader hid decades of abuse. Will his fall doom SBC abuse reforms?

Published by Sam

(RNS) — Paul Pressler has long been an eminent Texas Republican, having served as a state representative and judge in Houston. He also once served as the first vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention, but the title doesn’t capture his true place in the firmament of the SBC. As one of the architects of the “conservative resurgence” that reshaped the largest U.S. Protestant denomination beginning in the 1970s, he was been hailed for decades as a hero who helped rid SBC churches of a creeping liberalism. But recently, Gene Besen, a lawyer for the SBC, called Pressler, 93, a “monster” and “a dangerous predator” who leveraged his “power and false piety” to sexually abuse young men even as he was building his reputation as a conservative reformer.  “The man’s actions are of the devil,” Besen said, clarifying that he spoke in his personal capacity and not as a representative of the denomination. “That is clear.” What makes Pressler’s case so enraging to many Southern Baptists, however, is that his abuse has been detailed for …