Last spring, the ERLC invited me to speak as part of a panel the night before the SBC Annual Meeting in Birmingham, my hometown and just miles from where my abuse occurred. The symbolism of speaking in the same town about the worst evil I have encountered in church overwhelmed me, and I trembled backstage waiting to enter the room.
Then I met Dr. Moore. Noticing my agitation at telling my story publicly for the first time, Dr. Moore broke the tension by telling me stories about his children, and then helpfully explained that I would not be able to see anyone because of the stage lights. He told me to focus on someone in the front row as I talked. I followed his advice and looked at my husband as I spoke, because not only was that night the first time I told my story publicly, it was also my thirtieth wedding anniversary – more divine symbolism, because my two pastor abusers told me I would never marry.
Dr. Moore sat to my left on the panel. He murmured under his breath, away from his microphone, as I told my story. I could feel his pain as he heard what had happened to me in my Southern Baptist church. His murmurings indicated a ministerial pain and his emotions healed a deep hole in me that had not been touched for years.
Church has not been kind to me. It is hard to feel comfortable in any church when you were sexually abused in one for nearly two years. It is difficult to trust any pastor when memories of the abusive ones interfere.
Yet the men and women of the ERLC, especially Dr. Moore, showed me I could live an authentic spiritual life, living like Christ as a productive Southern Baptist. As I navigated the process of telling my story, they represented Jesus to me more than anyone has ever in my life. They gave me my voice back.
I went on to speak at the Caring Well Conference in October and then to various state conventions and associational meetings. At Caring Well, I stood backstage as Dr. Moore delivered an intense message about sexual abuse in the SBC, watching him projected on the curtain separating the stage from the convention hall. His conviction and integrity deeply moved me to use my own voice more.
Dr. Moore taught me that all believers are public theologians, some of us credentialed by the academy and some by our experiences. He convinced me that my voice was valuable and that I too could act as a public theologian, carefully exercising my beliefs and experiences publicly to create common ground. Dr. Moore is the best example of a public theologian we have in the SBC today. By remaining above the constant bully culture on social media, he pursues his calling with grace and moderation. He is above reproach.
In my efforts to begin using my voice, I have made some rookie mistakes. Recently I grew frustrated with the online treatment of Rachael Denhollander, a tireless abuse advocate who has also worked with the ERLC on the abuse initiative, and I posted an errant tweet. Those who are without social media sin can cast the first stone; I’ll wait. I am an academic; I read widely, and often read authors with whom I don’t fully agree. Some of those authors were the context of my tweet. Almost immediately, I received disproportionate and angry replies from Southern Baptist men I do not know. Then, I received a direct threat and suddenly realized that some Southern Baptists have been mining my Twitter account for material to use for causes they support.
I opposed Paige Patterson’s appearance at a church in Florida for cause; sexual assaults and sexual abuse occurred on his watch. I will continue to speak to his unsuitability to fill any pulpit. Because of my opposition, I gained new enemies. My tweet about women suddenly became a flashpoint and after simultaneously receiving the threat, I temporarily deactivated my Twitter account to process what had just occurred. I reactivated my account the next day and replaced my original tweet but still received more attacks. I am accustomed to SBC pastors using me for their own ends and treating me abusively, so this is something I took in stride.
Brothers, this practice of being a bully in your non-metaphorical bully pulpit is abhorrent and below reproach. Some of your social media behavior is repulsive and abusive. Within the sexual abuse initiative, we have said often that the world is watching the SBC. I can tell you they are watching the abusive and war-like tactics many SBC men are using today, and they are walking away from the church. Pastors cannot hurt me much more than I’ve already been hurt, but you can break the trust of those seeking God. Thankfully, the ERLC stands as a bulwark of ethical practice, moderating discourse and pursuing Christ in the public square without fighting.
I hope this new taskforce studying the ERLC asks for my opinion. I will tell them that Dr. Moore brought a wandering, deeply hurt Christian back to God and empowered me to serve Him publicly. I will tell them that the ERLC is imperative to the Southern Baptist Convention. I will tell them that the staff of the ERLC showed me how to be Christlike in the midst of hate and attacks.
I will tell them that a Convention that does not have room for Dr. Moore does not have room for me either, but also for every other Southern Baptist, because Dr. Moore represents the best of all of us. Whether we are healing from sexual abuse, fighting abortion, influencing public policy, or just simply being Christlike in a Convention filled with strife, Dr. Moore and the ERLC are steady stewards of the Bible first and the Baptist Faith & Message second. Finally, I will tell them that there are many other issues in the SBC that desperately need investigating but Dr. Moore and the ERLC are not one of them.
If you disagree with me, sit with me for a few minutes. Hear my story. Know that the ERLC put back together a broken believer and gave me a voice. Whether you care about my story or not, the ERLC validated this believer and bridged me back to God, and that alone is witness enough to the imperative nature of their continued service in SBC life.
Susan Codone
February 19, 2020
Susan is a professor at Mercer University, an abuse survivor, a powerful voice within the SBC on issues of sexual abuse, and has spoken at ERLC and other SBC events.
Susan,
Thank you for sharing this perspective. I believe there are many like you…like us…who have been blessed by Dr. Moore and the ministry of the ERLC.
Incredible article, Susan. Thank you for sharing this with us.
The viciousness of the personal attacks from PASTORS and others on Twitter should leave no doubt – the problems in the SBC are not to be laid at the feet of Dr. Moore. When people behave as brutes, we cannot ask the blessing of God.
You guys are about as big of hypocrites and blind to your own behavior as anyone I have ever seen. It’s okay for Brent Hobbs to say in a public combox on your site that Pastor Mike Stone is “pure hubris mixed with complete incompetence” that has ever been witnessed in an EC chairman… He doesn’t say it on Twitter, but says it publicly. That’s okay, but me being deeply concerned about a council member of the ERLC promoting heretics is being a “brute.” Physician heal thyself.
Did you join in on the attacks against Susan?
What I saw there was brutal. Unkind. Ungodly. (Clarifying, because Tom cannot seem to understand – what I saw from those whose tweets I read. I asked him if he joined in or not).
The Founders have been promoting an atheist/agnostic – NEVER heard you say a word about that. Is it possible that we can learn from people we disagree with?
Some ramblings.
The only “attack” was me directly pointing out the tweet that Susan put out publicly promoting two heretics. If you call that “brutal, unkind, and ungodly” then you would have to say the same thing about Hobbs statement about Mike Stone.
I said about Susan’s tweet: “Member of @ERLC Council thinks we should listen and amplify some women who are false teachers. And there will be silence about this from SBC leaders.”
Explain what is “brutal, unkind, and ungodly” about that? Susan had tweeted negatively at me many times and I never responded unkindly or anything else.
But if you think that what Hobbs said about Mike Stone is better than me pointing out what I did, I guess we are on different pages.
Regarding Founders, I haven’t said anything because I don’t see them being promoted as Christians who we should listen to. They haven’t put those two men on their council and promoted them as biblical voices we should follow.
But, yes, I believe we can learn form people we disagree with. I have listened and learned from you in the past. Not sure if you feel the same by me.
But you know that list Susan gave was a dangerous one. We shouldn’t be promoting heretics like that. However, I missed that she said she erred on that. So I removed the tweet. I hope you will encourage Hobbs to remove his comment about Stone.
Finally, I have never mined ANY of Susan’s Twitter account and don’t know anyone else who was. I never knew who she was until she started negatively tweeting at me. And I didn’t consider that an attack. I saw it as strong disagreement.
Wish you well, Dave. I truly do.
Just to point out – I said I saw ungodly Twitter attacks on Susan. One was posted here today, which ended up in trash before it posted. I ASKED you if you had joined in on that. I generally do not follow your Twitter, Tom, because when I do it disgusts and angers me and I often respond in kind. I find it better just to ignore people like you and Jordan Hall and others.
Once again, Dave, to point out that she promoted heretics is not an attack. That’s all I said and that is not an attack. And was Hobbs “attacking” and acting like Jordan Hall when he said Mike Stone is “pure hubris mixed with complete incompetence”? The double standard is amazing!
This is not about Brent.
Whether Brent should have said that or not isn’t the issue. I feel like what Brent said was true, but yes, it was pretty strong.
But this post is about Susan and the twitter mob that tore into her.
I don’t really know if you joined the mob or not – I only read a few nasty comments by different people. You stand before God for what you said. I know how you generally treat people, but I do not know what you said to Susan.
I do not relish arguing, Tom. It does not energize me – it drains me. I have other responsibilities.
We’ve gone around on this.
I wish you treated people differently than you treat them. You are seemingly not going to do that. You feel that your attacks are somehow honoring to Christ. I certainly think the opposite. We probably will have to leave it there.
You can do better, Tom. Instead of looking at your heart and dealing with the viciousness you consistently mete out on Twitter, tearing down other believers, you look for non-existence comparisons. What we do here is NOTHING like the consistent venom of Twitter by the Reformed Twitter/discernment bunch. We deal with issues. The fact that you can’t see that speaks to your personal spiritual blindness. I hope, someday, your hardened heart will soften and you will see the damage you do.
One final thing…
I point out Susan Codone is promoting heretics, and it is a “brutal, unkind, and ungodly attack.” Hobbs says Mike Stone is “pure hubris mixed with incompetence” and that is “dealing with issues.”
But I am the one who is “blind.”
You refuse to listen, Tom – that’s your problem.
I NEVER said your comments were “brutal, unkind, and ungodly.” I said the things I saw against Susan were. I ASKED if you had joined in.
You are always seeking a gotcha response instead of listening. It is not helpful.
And you are always judging my heart… as seen throughout this conversation. You claim to deal with “issues,” but read your words and you will see you are dealing with motives and intent. You say, “you refuse to listen.” Really? Because I may have misread your words to me? You say, “You are always seeking a gotcha response instead of listening.” Really? You can read the motives of my heart?
I have thoughts about why you treat me the way you do, but I am not going to publish them here.
Again, how do you categorize Hobbs comments about Mike Stone? Is that dealing with the issues?
Not judging your motives, Tom, but your actions and words. Perhaps your motives are pure and you just express yourself badly.
Don’t you do that all the time? You spend most of your online life calling people out. Is it suddenly wrong when I call you out?
We are done now.
I didn’t say it was wrong to call me out. But there is a difference between confronting clear issues and saying this is what someone’s heart is and why they are doing something. Why do you get to say when we are done?
The whole “gotcha” thing – like your false attacks on me yesterday about my views on Eternal Security, leads you astray, Tom. Christians ought not go into conversation looking for a way to “get” the other person. We ought to understand and build relationships. In my experience, you are looking for a way to prosecute and convict those who disagree with you and bring them down. I find it contrary to biblical conversation.
Okay, I guess we aren’t “done now.”
Yesterday was not a “false attack.” I wasn’t trying to “get” you. In the conversation about having a speaker at PC who didn’t believe in eternal security that it was a secondary issue. I have said several good things about you in public and even admitted if I was wrong about something I said. Unless you say it after this comment, I guarantee there isn’t one thing you have ever said good about me.
We are done now… 🙂
If you’ve ever done anything but run me down, I’ve never seen it. But thanks.
Tom, what I’ve said is that I think you can do better. I don’t think you are the kind of craven, evil man some of those in discernment circles are. You share some of Jordan’s tactics at times, from my perspective, but I do not think you have his despicable heart of wickedness.
When I say, “You can do better” it is because I think you can. I don’t think you have to be the merchant of doom. That’s my belief. I think you can do better than you do.
You don’t have to be done, but now I am. +
This is just ONE example. So maybe you don’t look close enough: https://twitter.com/TomBuck/status/1229835662582583296?s=20
Saying that somebody has a ‘despicable heart of wickedness’ sounds just a touch unkind to me.
Dr. Codone says: “I can tell you they [the world] are watching the abusive and war-like tactics many SBC men are using today, and they are walking away from the church.” Amen amen amen. Look what happened here. 21 comments, and 17 of them are an argument about who is attacking whom and which tweet or accusation is worse.
Dr. Codone you are a canary in the mine, on two fronts. Thank you for your example of admitting a ‘rookie mistake’ whatever that was. (I have no idea, I can’t bear to follow this). Unbelievably rare, incredibly rare. Thank you for telling your story. I am sick of arguing men, and I’ve left Baptist life, never to return. But I have a love for church, the body of Christ, and I sense you do too, or you would not be making these sacrifices.
Karen, yes to all you said. I also just left the SBC (why am I still reading this.. old habits die hard).
I saw the list. I knew it was a mistake. People probably think I’m a liberal, but I would not have condoned the list with some of the names on it. But here’s the difference. Instead of calmly guiding, shepherding, acting pastoral people want to accuse and attack and it doesn’t matter who is hurt or pushed away. You look at sheep and attack them as if they are wolves to defend against. SHAME ON YOU. If someone makes a mistake then guide and teach and gently correct and restore.
You have lost your heart SBC.
Thanks for this wonderful personal account.
God bless you.
Keep moving forward.
As I said a few years ago (I forget what it was in relation to), “I stand with Dr. Moore.” Thank you, Susan for standing for Christ and the godly of the SBC.