SEB Sexual Abuse Task Force Report

The SBC Sexual Abuse Task Force has released its report on sexual abuse in the SBC. The full report can be found here.

Megathread

For those who have not previously heard of this: The issue of sexual abuse in the SBC has been brewing for years. However, due to unique, decentralized nature of the SBC as a denomination, the extent and prevalence of such issues is hard to investigate. However, at the June 15-16, 2021, Annual Meeting, passed the following motion, nearly unanimously:

I move that the Southern Baptist Convention, meeting June 15-16, 2021, in Nashville, TN, ask the newly elected president of the SBC to appoint a task force within 30 days of the date of this Convention that shall be comprised of members of Baptist churches cooperating with this Convention and experts in sexual abuse and the handling of sexual abuse-related dynamics. This task force shall either assume oversight of the third-party review announced previously by the Executive Committee or initiate a separate third-party review. Said task force shall ensure that the third-party review includes an investigation into any allegations of abuse, mishandling of abuse, mistreatment of victims, a pattern of intimidation of victims or advocates, and resistance to sexual abuse reform initiatives. The investigation shall include actions and decisions of staff and members of the Executive Committee from January 1, 2000 to June 14, 2021. This investigation should include an audit of the procedures and actions taken by the Credentials Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention, which was formed at the Convention meeting in Birmingham, AL, June 11-12, 2019. The review shall be funded by allocations from the Cooperative Program.

We further move that the task force agree to the accepted best-standards and practices as recommended by the commissioned third-party, including but not limited to the Executive Committee staff and members waiving attorney client privilege in order to ensure full access to information and accuracy in the review. A written report on the factual findings of this review shall be presented to the task force 30 days prior to the SBC Annual meeting in 2022, and made public in full form within one week of the Task Force’s receipt of the report along with suggestions from the task force for actions to be taken by our convention.

This led to the creation of the Sexual Abuse Task Force. The Task Force then hired Guidepost Solutions, a third-party entity charged with conducting the investigation. As per the Motion, Guidepost was hired to investigate the following:

• Allegations of abuse by Executive Committee members
• Mishandling of abuse allegations by Executive Committee members between January 1, 2000, to June 14, 2021
• Allegations of mistreatment of sexual abuse victims by Executive Committee members from January 1, 2000, to June 14, 2021
• Patterns of intimidation of sexual abuse victims or advocates from January 1, 2000, to June 14, 2021
• Resistance to sexual abuse reform initiatives from January 1, 2000, to June 14, 2021

A FAQ from the Task Force can be found here. A statement from Guidepost, along with a link to their own FAQ, can be found here.

Why a Megathread?

While the SBC isn't a specifically reformed denomination, our user base contains many members of the SBC, and SBC news is often discussed here. With the release of this Report, there is a strong chance that we may receive numerous posts related to this event over the next few days. In an attempt to keep the sub from being flooded with every single post and hot take imaginable, we're putting up this Megathread for the time being.

For now, all posts/comments related to this issue must be posted here.

We will change the default sorting to New in an attempt to keep comments timely.

Rules

Our normal rules of conduct apply. We strongly encourage every single user on this sub to read our full rules carefully.

A topic such as this from a denomination as large as this is likely to stir up strong emotions. Remember our rules, especially Rules 1 and 2.

The Report itself is nearly 300 pages long, with around 100 additional pages of appendices. Before you begin dropping hot takes, please take some time to familiarize yourself with the Report itself, rather than just repeating speculation or accusations.