As Southern Baptists prepare to meet in Dallas, many are understandably frustrated that messengers will be asked to approve a $3 million priority allocation of Cooperative Program funds to cover anticipated legal expenses. It’s important for us to remind ourselves how we got where we are.
The Original Motion
At the 2021 SBC annual meeting, pastor and messenger Grant Gaines moved the creation of a task force to oversee a third-party investigation into the actions of the SBC Executive Committee regarding sexual abuse in the SBC.[1]
Below is the full text of the motion:[2]
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.
After overcoming some procedural hurdles, the motion was approved by an overwhelming majority of messengers, with then-EC President Ronnie Floyd telling messengers that he supported its approval.[3] Although Floyd told the convention that he supported the will of the messengers and would “expeditiously implement today’s motion,” Floyd and other EC leaders actively worked to obstruct the task force from carrying out its convention-approved work. Executive Committee member Dean Inserra revealed on the Baptist Review podcast that some EC leaders deliberately tried to intimidate trustees into defying the instructions given by the messengers.[4]
The primary area of disagreement among EC members was regarding the waiving of attorney-client privilege.[5] It was feared that waiving attorney-client privilege would open the EC up to unnecessary liability and could result in the EC becoming uninsurable.[6] Despite those concerns, EC trustees eventually, on the third attempt, voted to follow the will of the messengers, proceed with the waiver of attorney-client privilege, and execute the contract with Guidepost Solutions—the third party investigative firm chosen by the task force.[7]
It seems that time has created a degree of collective amnesia regarding the concerns in 2021 related to sexual abuse and the Executive Committee. Southern Baptists were not alleging that EC leadership was engaged in sexual abuse. Southern Baptists were not even alleging that EC leadership was involved in some kind of criminal conspiracy to cover up sexual abuse. Southern Baptists were concerned that EC leadership had not always responded to abuse in ways that protect victims and honor Christ. This is why the original motion that was approved by the messengers did include “allegations of abuse” but focused on “mishandling of abuse, mistreatment of victims, a pattern of intimidation of victims or advocates, and resistance to sexual abuse reform initiatives.”
The Results of the Guidepost Investigation
Thankfully, the Guidepost report did not reveal widespread sexual abuse by EC leadership. Nor did the Guidepost report reveal any kind of criminal conspiracy to cover up sexual abuse. But the Guidepost report did reveal that there was in fact “mishandling of abuse, mistreatment of victims, a pattern of intimidation of victims or advocates, and resistance to sexual abuse reform initiatives.”
Below are the first two paragraphs of the executive summary in the Guidepost report:[8]
For almost two decades, survivors of abuse and other concerned Southern Baptists have been contacting the Southern Baptist Convention (“SBC”) Executive Committee (“EC”) to report child molesters and other abusers who were in the pulpit or employed as church staff. They made phone calls, mailed letters, sent emails, appeared at SBC and EC meetings, held rallies, and contacted the press…only to be met, time and time again, with resistance, stonewalling, and even outright hostility from some within the EC.
Our investigation revealed that, for many years, a few senior EC leaders, along with outside counsel, largely controlled the EC’s response to these reports of abuse. They closely guarded information about abuse allegations and lawsuits, which were not shared with EC Trustees, and were singularly focused on avoiding liability for the SBC to the exclusion of other considerations. In service of this goal, survivors and others who reported abuse were ignored, disbelieved, or met with the constant refrain that the SBC could take no action due to its polity regarding church autonomy – even if it meant that convicted molesters continued in ministry with no notice or warning to their current church or congregation.
I encourage you to go back and read the entire executive summary. It’s only 13 pages at the beginning of the report. The link is included in the footnotes to this article. At the time, Al Mohler said in response to the report and its revelations, “Women, children, and young people have been particularly harmed. Some of their stories are included and their accusations are documented in the report. One of the recurring revelations in the report is the resistance on the part of many leaders to see sexual abuse as abuse and all abuse as sin that may well reveal a theological problem rooted in a neglect of the Bible’s teachings on sin and its deceptiveness.”[9] Other SBC leaders made similar statements at the time.[10] Those who now claim that there was no sexual abuse crisis in the SBC are either forgetful or intentionally deceptive.
It’s of course true that the crisis was not as bad as it could have been or as bad as some might have feared. That, however, does not mean that there was no crisis or that the Guidepost investigation was unnecessary. The Guidepost investigation was necessary because there were significant questions among Southern Baptists regarding the response of EC leadership to sexual abuse in the SBC. The Guidepost report reveals that there was in fact a problem with the response of some in EC leadership to sexual abuse in the SBC.
The High Financial Cost and the Proposed Priority Allocation
There is no doubt that this whole process has been very costly financially for Southern Baptists. EC President Jeff Iorg shared with EC trustees in February that as of December 24, 2024, nearly $13 million had been spent on investigations related to sexual abuse and related legal costs.[11] In addition, the EC will be asking Southern Baptists next week to approve an additional $3 million priority allocation from the Cooperative Program for anticipated legal costs.[12]
That’s a lot of God’s money that could have been spent sending church planters and international missionaries across North America and the world. Southern Baptists are right to be angry that so much money has been and will be spent dealing with sex abuse in the SBC. I understand the outrage. My church members work too hard, and our church gives too generously to have our tithe dollars spent on addressing sexual abuse in the SBC. We cooperate with the SBC for missions and theological education, not to make sure high-powered lawyers are able to buy a second vacation home.
So, where should we direct our outrage?
Some have suggested that the ignorant messengers are to blame for this fiasco—that we didn’t know what we were doing. That’s the same tired line EC leaders were trotting out there when they were obstructing the task force from carrying out the will of the messengers in the fall of 2021. Now that our financial chickens have come home to roost, some are resurrecting the “blame the messengers” line.
Others are more pointed in their blame. It’s the fault of those who wrote, presented, and advocated for the original motion. They had some kind of ulterior motive or sinister agenda. They knew there was no sex abuse crisis in the SBC, but they manipulated the messengers into going along with their plan to cripple and take over the convention. Such accusations are not only unfounded but undermine our collective pursuit of truth and repentance.
The real blame belongs with those EC leaders who created an environment in the first place where messengers believed there was “mishandling of abuse, mistreatment of victims, a pattern of intimidation of victims or advocates, and resistance to sexual abuse reform initiatives” at the Executive Committee. Of course, as the Guidepost report demonstrates, messengers were right in their suspicions. My experience in attending every SBC annual meeting since 2013 is that messengers are not easily manipulated from the floor of the convention. Messengers were deeply concerned because they had good reason to be concerned, and the Guidepost report revealed that their concerns were in fact legitimate.
Additionally, the blame belongs to those former SBC leaders who are currently suing the Southern Baptist Convention in direct violation of 1 Corinthians 6. Dr. Iorg said on the Baptist 21 podcast that it is the Department of Justice investigation and the lawsuits by Johnny Hunt, David Sills, and Preston Garner that have drained the EC financially.[13] The Department of Justice investigation was something that the SBC had no control over. The SBC had no choice but to respond. The lawsuits are by men who have admitted that they are guilty of sin, though they have refused to refer to their sinful actions as abuse. Rather than responding in humility and repentance, they are now seeking personal gain at the expense of the very churches they once served. The SBC has no choice but to defend itself against such godless lawsuits.
Next week in Dallas, I will be voting in favor of the proposed $3 million priority allocation. Not because I am happy about it. I am not. But we have to defend ourselves, and we have to pay our bills.
I do not regret supporting and voting in favor of the independent third-party investigation into the Executive Committee. It was a necessary investigation that has cost us dearly. I can only hope that we have learned our lesson so that when our legal and financial obligations are met, we can move forward together for the glory of God and the propagation of the gospel among the nations.
[1] https://www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/news/motion-spurs-task-force-to-oversee-ec-review/
[2] https://sbcvoices.com/motion-to-investigate-the-sbc-executive-committee-full-text/
[3] https://www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/news/motion-spurs-task-force-to-oversee-ec-review/
[4] https://www.thebaptistreview.com/editorial/s2-ep-14-bruce-frank-and-dean-inserra-on-abuse-reform
[5] https://baptistnews.com/article/sbc-executive-committee-declines-for-a-second-time-to-comply-with-will-of-convention-messengers-on-sexual-abuse-investigation/
[6] https://sbcvoices.com/qa-primary-issues-related-to-executive-committees-handling-of-guidepost-contract/ and https://baptistnews.com/article/sbc-executive-committee-declines-for-a-second-time-to-comply-with-will-of-convention-messengers-on-sexual-abuse-investigation/
[7] https://www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/news/ec-approves-guidepost-contract-agrees-to-waive-privilege/
[8] https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22031737-final-guidepost-solutions-independent-investigation-report/
[9] https://albertmohler.com/2022/05/23/briefing-5-23-22/
[10] https://www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/news/sbc-entity-leaders-respond-to-guidepost-report/
[11] https://www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/news/timeline-sexual-abuse-investigation-related-costs-approach-13m-since-2021/
[12] https://www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/news/ec-approves-190-million-allocation-budget-that-includes-legal-costs/
[13] https://open.spotify.com/show/7HNzrBWbWWqW5GErXaiFYm
