The Speech I Planned to Give in Support of the Motion to Censure (by Louis Cook)

I am Louis Cook. I am a messenger sent by Oak City Baptist Church in Oak City, North Carolina.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this motion might sound unusual to many of you. Let me make clear that the purpose is not to attack or disparage. It simply calls on you, as messengers, to approve a motion of censure of these leaders who serve our Convention. Censure does not fire nor suspend someone. What it does is express our strong disapproval of a specific action. I believe that most messengers and the churches that sent us remain unaware of what was done in our name in 2022 and has remained unanswered by the trustees that we entrust to lead our entities.

What was done? An amicus brief was filed to a court in Kentucky. An amicus brief is a legal filing to a court that opposes one side in support of a cause. In Kentucky a door was opened for sexual abuse survivors to seek justice through the courts. In this case, Lifeway, Southern Seminary, the SBC Executive Committee, & the Southern Baptist Convention filed this brief to close the door for one sexual abuse survivor and perhaps others to pursue.

A child was sexually abused for years by her Father. Now a woman and a survivor by the grace of God, she sought her day in court. She was not suing our Convention nor any of our entities yet we lined up against her. This means everyone of us and our churches though never asked nor informed lined up against her. We also paid for it via our Cooperative Program offerings.

I am a messenger sent by and a bi-vocational pastor who serves a small rural church. We faithfully support our cooperative efforts as a convention to reach the world for Jesus Christ.

This legal maneuver succeeded in silencing this child of God who suffered so heinously at the hands of her abuser for years. As a pastor, a husband, a father, a son, a brother, and a follower of Christ, I would never oppose a sexual abuse survivor’s attempt to have their voice heard in our courts in seeking justice. Sadly we opposed her.

The messengers have an opportunity through this motion of censure to attempt to apologize for a decision made in our name and with our offerings.

Please express your disapproval of what was done in the name of Southern Baptists. Let us stand on the side of justice. Our Lord and Savior stood with the powerless when no one else did. He does it still for each one of us. Let us do the same.

My Father was a Christian attorney and his desire was that justice would be done and the Lord pleased in everything he did. On his wall are words we should heed:

But let justice flow like water, and righteousness, like an unfailing stream.

Amos 5:24 CSB