The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), a 13.2 million-member church, is undergoing significant scrutiny and reform in response to past practices and violations, as well as a broader call for accountability within its ranks. Key issues include the practice of open communion and the involvement of women pastors in leadership roles, both cited as violations of the Baptist Faith and Message (BF&M). Additionally, the SBC faces challenges related to sexual abuse within the church. A 400-page report by Guidepost Solutions revealed a cover-up of sexual abuse cases, prompting the 2022 Department of Justice investigation and the establishment of an Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force by the SBC, with a budget of $3 million. In response to these challenges, the SBC plans to create an independent Abuse Response Commission to manage a database of abusers, which currently has no names listed, and oversee training for preventing and dealing with abuse. Amidst these reforms, there's a call for a return to confessional faithfulness and the rejection of progressive attacks on the convention. The Center for Baptist Leadership has been launched to cultivate leadership for revitalization, emphasizing Baptist accountability and institutional recapture as paths forward.
“When some leaders harp on ‘mission over doctrine,’ one might reasonably ask if their definition of ‘mission’ goes beyond collecting cash?” 🔥 🔥 from @jrwhitehead & @Byzness in the launch article for @BaptistLeaders https://t.co/bytLIiaM1q
This will be @BaptistLeaders Podcast Episode #1. Leadership means we tell the truth and hold people accountable. @jrwhitehead and I try to get Southern Baptists the facts on the wicked acts of Russell Moore & his friends so we can stop believing their lies and move on. https://t.co/zcTYWYD7yT
Don’t miss our launch article for @BaptistLeaders as @jrwhitehead and @Byzness chart the biblical and Baptist path forward on abuse reform in the SBC. They argue for Baptist accountability, which hasn’t been tried and found lacking, but found difficult and not tried. https://t.co/3pNTaZjj6X
One main line of effort for @baptistleaders is to counter organizations like "The After Party." We want to help train SBC pastors, lay members, and leaders to better spot and reject the subversive, and well-funded, progressive attacks on the SBC and evangelicalism.
One of the things that @Byzness, who has helped me every step of the way with @baptistleaders, and I hope to do is to lay out a model for "institutional recapture" that other Christian denominations can follow. If we can do it in the SBC, we hope our friends in the PCA, the…
Thanks to @baptistleaders for asking Josh and I to talk about the Baptist way forward on sexual abuse. "By definition, cooperation does not allow for contradiction on the matters of cooperation. Two men cannot walk together in different directions." https://t.co/Tg0gbbcGMK
“The Convention needs leaders who will implement Baptist accountability and resist the siren call to abandon our faith and message for schemes that promise a worldly-approved veneer of justice that is not a biblical nor Baptistic form of justice at all.” @Byzness @jrwhitehead https://t.co/PulwCb22TS
In our very first article, @Byzness and @jrwhitehead demonstrate leadership by tackling one of the toughest topics in the SBC: Abuse reform. What’s the path forward? Baptist accountability. Only at @baptistleaders https://t.co/slAmLvsJzJ
I'm thrilled to announce the soft launch of the Center for Baptist Leadership (@baptistleaders)! Our mission is big but simple: Cultivate uncompromising Baptist leadership for institutional revitalization in the SBC for God's glory & our nation's good /1 https://t.co/CHcJprb2bX
Christa Brown, a woman who said a Southern Baptist pastor had sexually abused her when she was a teenager, said via email the end of a federal probe into the leadership panel did not close the matter. https://t.co/fAnaXyL3IL
The new group, whose funding is undetermined at present, would also handle the training of Southern Baptist churches and clergy in preventing and dealing with abuse, they said. https://t.co/fAnaXyL3IL
Last month, church leaders said the organization would establish an independent Abuse Response Commission to implement the database, which currently has no names listed. https://t.co/fAnaXyLByj
This is a thoughtful interaction by @hunterbaker on @PaulDMiller2 and @PerfInjust. Underscores, in my mind, the need for Baptists to do more work on frameworks that provide an alternative to liberalism. https://t.co/8AS9nIaAq3
The revelations touched off a firestorm at that year’s Southern Baptist business session, where delegates voted to create an Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force, spend $3 million to create a database of criminally convicted or “credibly accused” abusers https://t.co/fAnaXyL3IL
The 2022 DOJ investigation was launched after an earlier independent probe of the 13.2 million-member church resulted in a 400-page report from Guidepost Solutions that detailed a coverup of sexual abuse cases and related misconduct. https://t.co/fAnaXyL3IL
“While we are grateful for closure on this particular matter, we recognize that sexual abuse reform efforts must continue to be implemented across the Convention. We remain steadfast in our commitment to assist churches in preventing...” https://t.co/fAnaXyL3IL
“We need to return the SBC to confessional faithfulness, not destroy the SBC and build something smaller that will battle errors again within a decade.” Wise words from @jaredhmoore https://t.co/BJ8GicrS2U
There are men in leadership positions in the SBC that practice open communion, a material and repeated violation of the BF&M. There are also men serving on important committees with women pastors at their churches, also in gross violation of the BF&M. Think about that.
There are men in leadership positions in the SBC that practice open communion, a material and repeated violation of the BF&M. There are also men serving on important committees with women pastors, in gross violation of the BF&M. Think about that.
There are men in leadership positions in the SBC that practice open communion, a material and repeated violation of the BF&M. There men serving on important committees with women pastors, in gross violation of the BF&M. Think about that.