Whereas any act of sexual predation is a sin and an abomination, and many acts of sexual predation constitute crimes; and,
Whereas all fifty states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U. S. Virgin Islands have laws requiring certain professionals to report suspected sexual abuse of children, and twenty-seven states specifically require clergy to report suspected sexual abuse of children; and,
Whereas God has commanded us to “submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right” (1 Peter 2:13-14, NASB); and,
Whereas God has commanded us to address sin on the part of elders, when sufficiently corroborated, with public rebuke and to do so without bias or partiality (1 Timothy 5:19-21); and,
Whereas anecdotal reports of predatory sexual behavior toward both minor and adult members of churches by clergy or church staff are widespread; and,
Whereas woefully common are anecdotal reports of efforts by churches to prevent the reporting of predatory sexual behavior to legal authorities, to hide sexual misconduct from the members of churches, or to forestall the public release of information regarding sexual misconduct on the part of church leaders; and,
Whereas such reports, when they involve churches in friendly cooperation with the Southern Baptist Convention, damage the Convention’s credibility in its efforts to call to salvation a world full of people who are enslaved to sin and are often involved in destructive sexual practices; and,
Whereas failure to mourn over and take appropriate disciplinary action toward persistent, unrepentant sin is evidence of spiritual arrogance (1 Corinthians 5:2); and,
Whereas the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention has reported to the Convention in 2008 that “The governing documents [of the Convention] in their present form already permit messengers attending any annual meeting to move to withdraw fellowship from any affiliated church for any reason,” and that, “declaring a church not to be in ‘friendly cooperation’ with the Convention would certainly be justified in any specific case where a church intentionally employed a known sexual offender or knowingly placed one in a position of leadership over children or other vulnerable participants in its ministries”; now, therefore, be it
Resolved that we, the messengers of the 2016 Southern Baptist Convention meeting in St. Louis, Missouri, adopt these sentiments of the Executive Committee as our own and affirm as appropriate the withdrawal of fellowship by the Convention from any affiliated church who has knowingly and unrepentantly placed a sexual offender in a position of leadership over children or other vulnerable participants in its ministries, has not adjudged a history of sexual predation to be disqualifying for ordained ministry, or has engaged in activities designed to prevent victims or others from reporting cases of sexual misconduct; and be it further
Resolved that we support any actions by the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention, upon suitable evidence, to withdraw fellowship from such churches as a part of its duty “to act for the Convention ad interim in all matters not otherwise provided for”; and be it further
Resolved that we encourage fellow believers to consider whether churches and parachurch ministries that have demonstrated a pattern of intimidating or otherwise silencing victims of sexual predation are unworthy of support or patronage unless they repent; and be it further
Resolved that we humbly call to the attention of the various boards of trustees, state conventions, local associations, and local churches within the Southern Baptist family the degree to which churches and parachurch ministries who willfully enable, tolerate, or cover up sexual misconduct are corrosive to the collective Southern Baptist witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ; and be it further
Resolved that we support any actions by the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention to incorporate a consideration of the highest standard of ethics regarding the prevention and reporting of sexual predation into the accomplishment of its duty “to act in an advisory capacity on all questions of cooperation among the different entities of the Convention, and among the entities of the Convention and those of other conventions, whether state or national”; and be it further
Resolved that we express our sentiment to the various press agencies within the Southern Baptist family that we would benefit greatly from hearing the stories of churches and institutions who have handled well the discovery of sexual misconduct in their congregations; and be it further
Resolved that, recognizing that false accusations of sexual predation do sometimes occur, we affirm thorough investigation by trained investigators working for the proper authorities rather than avoidance or suppression of accusations as the most reliable means to discover both false accusations and valid accusations for what they are; and be it further
Resolved that we commend to those who have acted as sexual predators the way of regeneration for those who are lost, and for all, repentance, spiritual growth, and vigorous accountability in a church family as the only hope for victory over the pernicious snare of sexual temptation; and be it finally
Resolved that we humbly and gently commend the way of apology and repentance to our sister churches and to various parachurch institutions who have failed to handle appropriately the discovery of sexual misconduct in their congregations or institutions.
