On Sunday, March 18, I received an email from William Birch, an up-and-coming Baptist blogger who was part of our “Blue Collar Blog Madness” contest, requesting that he be removed from the contest because of immorality that had taken place. He was non-specific. Then, of course, the news broke out that Billy had been arrested for sexual assault on a fellow student at SEBTS. The blogosphere lit up over the next week or so.
It was at that moment that some in the Baptist blog world showed its down side. One blogger speculated blindly that William might have drugged the victim to commit assault. None of that was true, of course. That same kind of wild speculation also was rampant on a forum discussion at another site. People rushed to judgment and made unwarranted conclusions. I’ve not seen apologies, corrections or admissions of faulty reporting concerning any of the untrue information that was posted.
Maybe that can serve as a corrective to us the next time that it is best to wait until the facts come out before we draw our conclusions.
The blog world has moved on, but perhaps some have wondered what has happened to William Birch. I’ve exchanged a few emails with him in the six weeks since this tragedy occurred. He has given me permission to share with you what is going on in his life.
1) William’s emails to me evidence a true repentance that would serve as an example to others. He has never justified or excused his sin, neither the general sin nor the specific act against the other man. He has faced it, admitted it and completely rejected it. I respected William as a blogger, but while his sin shocked me, my respect for him has grown as I have seen his humble, repentant response. He has demonstrated godly sorrow that will eventually, I believe, lead to his healing.
2) William continues to be thankful for the way that SEBTS handled this situation. Danny Akin and the staff there, while they were left without options other than to expel him, did not shun or despise William, but demonstrated grace that helped to begin the healing process. They helped both Billy and his victim take the first steps in the healing process.
3) The court case has been resolved. Here is what happened that day in March. Both sides, the victim and William’s defense, agreed that the case had been overcharged. The charge was reduced from felony sexual assault to misdemeanor sexual battery. The facts were agreed to by both parties and are not in dispute. While the other student slept, William touched him in a sexual way, hoping that he would not be caught. He was. William has been given three years probation and will soon leave North Carolina to return to his Virginia home to continue the healing process.
4) In every email William has written me, one of his chief concerns has been the man he sinned against. There seems to have been some reconciliation there and we should continue to pray for this unnamed young man. Again, it seems that the gracious and godly response of the leadership of SEBTS had a positive effect.
5) William is in counseling and is trying to work on root issues that led to this shameful sequence of events. His relationship with God has grown as a result of all of this and his relationship with his father (which he believes to be a root issue) has also grown “exponentially.” He is attempting to deal with root issues, not just behaviors and symptoms, and this seems to be a genuine course to healing. Each of us should pray for that healing to continue.
6) William expressed something to me that I find encouraging. The perception of many is that the evangelical church is homophobic and hateful to homosexuals. Since William’s issues have surfaced, and in spite of the unkind behavior of a few bloggers, he has been the recipient of a lot of grace within the Christian community – at SEBTS, from Christian friends, and from pastors and churches. The SBC may be closer to the ideal that Dr. Mohler and others have articulated, of an uncompromising but loving response to homosexuality.
7) William is trying to figure out his future, and I would urge all who have an interest in this to pray for him. At the present time, he is just working on healing and restoration. The rest will flow from that.
William is devastated by all this, ashamed, broken – all of those natural things. But what impresses me is the healing power of Christ in all this. Less than two months after his world, and that of his victim’s, was shattered, God has begun the restoration process through his own power and the grace demonstrated by Christian people. While the process is only beginning, it has progressed farther than we might have believed back in mid-March. Christ is more powerful than our sin!
We can speculate on what is wrong in our denomination and in the Christian world. But there are some things that are right as well.
I appreciate William’s willingness to grant me permission to share these thoughts with you.
Dave,
Good to hear.
May the Lord’s grace continue to be sufficient for Billy and for all of us.
Thank you for the update on William.
It is always sad to hear of a brother in Christ falling into sin. My prayers will be with him in his time of healing and restoration.
Just a note of warning. The last time I posted on this, I didn’t allow any comments. Seeing some of the conversations on other blogs, I think that was the right decision here.
I’ve got discussion open for the time being. But as soon as this shows any signs of getting ugly here, I will shut it down.
Fair warning.
I appreciate the update very much. It helps me know how to pray for William. I know full well what a difficult struggle it is to overcome sexual brokenness, but that is what it is. He’s confessing it, addressing, repenting of it and seeking wholeness. That’s what we, as Christian brothers, should want for him and for others in our churches that struggle. It’s not an uncommon struggle and sometimes — like with any sin — opportunities overwhelm determination and a fall occurs. I am so thankful that William is experiencing grace. Perhaps the church is maturing on the issue of homosexuality and addressing it with truth and compassion. This would be a great and welcome shift and I have argued for it and encouraged it endlessly. God bless William in his healing.
Jesus confronted at least two people who were involved in inappropriate sexual relationships. He evidenced grace, kindness, and a forgiving spirit to both.
How can we call ourselves His followers if we do not follow His example as such instances as Mr. Birch’s case, ourselves?
It’s good to hear that many are. It’s sad to think that it’s noteworthy to do so.
Good word, Bob.
Thanks for giving the update Dave. As Thom said, this helps me know how to pray for him in the future. Please pass along my appreciation for him being willing to share a little, and that we are praying for him.
It is a blessing to see God turn an ugly situation into an opportunity for healing, restoration, and His glory to be shown. In a way it fills me with hope. Nothing can ultimately get in the way of God showing his glory.
I’m also thankful for the way you have handled this from the beginning Dave. I know it must of hit you really hard, and naturally various emotions would be running through your head. You dealt with this situation fairly and reminded people like me from the beginning to focus on areas of prayer that would normally be easy to forget.
Just as I was praying for William I want you to know that I was praying for you as well on a personal level of your involvement as well as your involvement as a blogger.
Thank you, Fletcher.
Based on advice, I have deleted an entire series of comments – not that any of them were sinful or evil or anything, but they took the discussion in a direction it does not need to go. I deleted everyone’s comments, including several of my own.
Here’s the fact, which I did not share immediately. William has no plans to ever be involved again in the SBC in ministry or leadership or anything. Once he gets through this healing process, his intent is to go to another denomination to do whatever God leads him to do.
He gave me permission to share about this, but I didn’t think it was germane. The fact is, William does not intend to seek to become a minister in the SBC, or to be involved in SBC leadership, so that entire line of discussion is unnecessary.
To be honest, I’m not interested in speculative debate on this. If you have a question for William, I would be glad to pass it on to him. If you have a comment for him, he may well read this and I will pass it on.
But, while I haven’t closed comments, I want us to avoid speculative areas.
I hope you understand.
For the record, again, he did not indicate that he intended to minister in that other denomination, just to switch to it. I just read this again and realized I may have given a wrong impression.
As always, you can complain to davemillerisajerk@hotmail.com
I believe in the power of the gospel. There are no hopeless situations because of the empty tomb. I pray that Wiliam will continue to grow in repentance and faith (as I hope to) and find his identity, worth, acceptance, and satisfaction in his relationship with Jesus. May the freedom and forgiveness accessed in union with Christ be the prevailing testimony of this sad situation. Where sin abounded, grace abounded all the more.
Thanks, Tim.
William and I have been “blogger buddies” for several years. We talked somewhat regularly on facebook and it was fruitful for me to discuss theology with him. I was very impressed by his ability to catalog information and past citations and present them in a readable and informative way. I thought he had a bright future in academia. I was very saddened when I heard what had happened, but am very glad to see this update. Thank you for keeping in touch with him and letting us know his situation. Thank God for His grace and love for us. It’s tragic what happened, but I’m glad to see that things seem to be heading in the right direction.
At the outset let me say that this comment really does not have anything to do personally with Mr. Birch although it is obviously the result of his circumstances. I appreciate his honesty, the kindness with which he is being treated, and the resources made available to him which I see as an act of love. However, I am still going to venture a response to this report because: A. I suffer from same-sex attraction, B. I have seen leaders within my community of believers who have been caught in public acting on same-sex attraction, C. I have watched the “process” by which both the person and the “issue” have moved quickly out of the public eye, and D. I want to write some things down to help me see a bit more clearly how my community maneuvers around same-sex attraction. As a final preface, and given what I have seen of the deletions in regard to comments about Mr. Birch, I appreciate what Dave is trying to do on these posts. Thus, Dave, if you feel my comments are not consistent with your intent, you will not upset me in any way if you delete my comments. I also know that this will be a late post that I suspect no one will see so it might not matter anyhow. However, I would still like to reflect on this issue instead of simply react. In any event, whether this comment is deleted or even read, I think my comments will be helpful to me (in particular) and to my community of faith (in general) to be able to establish a conversation about what it means to be active in Southern Baptist life (either locally or on a larger stage) and struggle with same-sex attraction. I would first like to observe that we have a nice language for these types of events (which include all forms of sexual disorders that come to our attention): sin, repentance, honesty, healing, the “healing process”, redemption, and restoration. All of these words are good, substantial words that mean something, especially in these moments, and I know we mean them when we speak them. However, what does it really mean for a Southern Baptist leader suddenly caught in the public eye in a circumstance involving same-sex attraction? I know a little about this topic because while my open acts were private, they were still public… Read more »