The Shepherds Were Exploiting the Flocks

 

The Southern Baptist Convention represses sexuality in everyone but its preachers. That's not just the conclusion of an independent investigation (voted on by delegates at the church's convention last summer); that's the conclusion of someone who was a Southern Baptist for years, attended and graduated from a Southern Baptist College, and knew many Southern Baptist pastors and would-be seminarians. The last Baptist church I attended in Salt Lake City had a pastor who was accused of sexual harassment by a good friend of mine. I haven't forgotten that.

The report also revealed that an executive committee staff member working for Mr. [August] Boto [a poweful member of the church's executive committee] had, for more than 10 years, maintained a detailed list of ministers accused of abuse. But no one “took any action to ensure that the accused ministers were no longer in positions of power at SBC churches,” the report stated. The most recent list, it added, contained the names of hundreds of alleged abusers affiliated with the denomination at some time. Investigators reviewed the same list and reported that it appears nine people remain at least connected to work in a ministry setting, including two connected with a Southern Baptist church.

It said that leaders including Ronnie Floyd, a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention who resigned as the head of the executive committee in October, had resisted the creation of a task force to investigate the executive committee. Mr. Floyd did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

The report described revelations in recent years that senior leaders had “protected or even supported abusers.” The leaders included three former presidents of the denomination, Steve Gaines, Jack Graham and Paige Patterson, as well as a former vice president and Mr. Boto, a former executive committee interim president and general counsel. A spokesman for Prestonwood Baptist Church, where Mr. Graham is pastor, said the church “categorically denies” the way the report characterizes an incident under his leadership in which it alleged Mr. Graham quietly dismissed an accused abuser on his staff rather than contacting police. Mr. Gaines and Mr. Patterson could not be immediately reached for comment.