At the #CaringWell conference last week, Rachael Denhollander recommended that Southern Baptists read Christa Brown’s book, This Little Light: Beyond a Baptist Preacher Predator and His Gang.[i] I read the book after receiving a copy at the For Such a Time as This rally at the SBC Annual Meeting in Birmingham at the recommendation of a friend. I too commend the book to you.
This Little Light was released 10 years ago, a year after the SBC Executive Committee declined to create a database of credibly accused sex offenders (considering a motion originally made by Wade Burleson). In the book, Christa describes her own abuse at the hands of a Baptist minister, the actions and inactions of those who knew of her abuse, and her experience SBC denominational leaders as an advocate first for herself and then for other survivors of abuse. The book is an eye-opening look, through the eyes of this survivor turned advocate, at how churches, pastors, and denominational leaders have acted to silence victims, cover-up abuses, protect institutions over people, and have justified taking little to no action to protect the vulnerable from serial abusers.
In the first section of the book, Christa describes her abuse at the hands of youth minister Eddie Dunagan (Tommy Gilmore) when she was fourteen. Her story shows how Eddie groomed her, manipulated her through spiritual abuse, molested her, and eventually discarded her. In the process, Christa makes her first attempts to report what was happening, first to a friend and then to her music minister, and finally her sister. Their responses would silence her until years later. Her story is painful to read.
The next two sections of the book, Christa begins to piece her story together and come to the realization that her 14-year-old self did not have “an affair with a minister” (41), but that she “was sexually abused by a Baptist minister” (45). Driven by the desire to see her abuse acknowledged and to prevent this predator from abusing others, Christa decided to return to the church of her youth and the minister she had confided in. The minister and church were not at all receptive and even threatened to sue her if she continued to pursue the matter. “It didn’t make any sense to me. They knew what I was saying was true. . . . but instead of doing anything about the minister who molested me, the church was threatening ME” (53).
Christa also reported her abuse to the Baptist General Convention of Texas (BGCT), following the guidelines of their policy booklet, “Broken Trust” but soon realized “the policy booklet was just words on paper. Nothing more” (53). The BGCT would do nothing with the information that Christa had provided them, the pastor would remain in his position and her abuse would not be acknowledged in any meaningful way. Promises were made and broken and her conversations with key leaders soon became conversations with only their lawyer—she was being shut out. Undeterred, Christa would continue to work to make her abuse known. Meanwhile, “Dunagan was still working in children’s ministry [and] No one . . . NO ONE . . . thought it mattered enough to do anything about it” (76).
She shares her decision to file a lawsuit against Dunagan and against her former church, a long shot to be sure, seeking acknowledgement of his abuse and his removal from ministry. In the process, Christa shares her own personal struggle and how the long term effects of abuse affected her ability to trust, her relationship with her husband, and her own mental health. She shares her own struggles in recovery even as she continued to pursue justice and the removal of her abuser from ministry.
It seemed that all parties involved wanted secrecy, the one thing that Christa refused. Her attempts within SBC-life continued to be a dead end. Neither her past church, friends or denominational leaders would act. “I know better than to believe that anyone who carries the name ‘Baptist’ is going to help me” (117). Eventually, she dropped the lawsuit against Dunagan. In a court ordered, she settled her lawsuit with her church, receiving a public written apology (which she herself helped to construct) but never any face-to-face apology. “They just wanted me to shut up and go away” (125). Dunagan remained in the ministry at another church.
In the next section of the book, Christa explains how her attention shifted from finding justice for her own abuse to advocating for others. She introduces us to Debbie [Vasquez], reliving her own story as she heard Debbie’s own frustrating attempts to have her abuser removed from ministry even as he confessed to abusing other children. Denominational leaders “were still more focused on protecting themselves than protecting kids” (136). As she began to advocate for others, bring the crisis of clergy sexual abuse in the SBC to light,, and call for a “means by which autonomous congregations may responsibly share information about clergy predators” (134), Christa discovered that many other survivors shared similar stories to hers. “My story wasn’t anything unusual. Lots of other people had similar stories, and no one in the denomination was listening to them” (146-47).
As she spoke to denominational leaders like then SBC president Frank Page, Morris Chapman, Augie Boto, Richard Land and others, she began to realize that “in the autonomous system of Baptist churches, the buck stops nowhere” (142-43). She continued to hear “nonsensical rationalizations” (160) of why nothing could be done due to our denominational polity.
After Wade Burleson’s motion at the Convention meeting in 2007 to form a database of credibly accused clergy abusers, Christa had some hope and, with it, the opportunity to speak to the SBC Executive Committee as they deliberated about the issue. She describes that meeting: “As an appellate attorney, I have sometimes given arguments before judicial panels that were not at all sympathetic. But this was unquestionably the most hostile room in which I have ever spoken” (176). She recounted her story of abuse and of the inaction of Baptist leaders and pastors, pleading with the committee to take action.
Not only did they decline to take action, Baptist leaders then sought to discredit and malign her. “Rather than telling people what they knew about Dunagan . . . they were publicly smearing me” (179). Frank Page would later characterize her as “opportunistic,” Paige Patterson would call her and other advocates “evil-doers” and “just as reprehensible as sex criminals,” while an EC member would call her a “a person of no integrity (180-81, 183). The ultimate result of all this was, despite an opportunity to take action, “Southern Baptist officials did what was easy. They did nothing.” (210).
In her closing chapters, Christa gives some final thoughts about where things are and what she expects in the future. She speaks of the devastating effects of clergy sexual abuse. “It is not only physically, psychologically, and emotionally devastating, but it is also spiritually annihilating” (213). In the process of advocating for herself and for others in the denominational structure, she sees the overwhelming message to survivors is “you don’t matter” (218). She laments, “There is little reason to believe that Southern Baptist leaders will be able to prevent the clergy child molesters they don’t yet know about when, over and over again, they do nothing about the clergy child molesters they’re specifically told about” (222).
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I am still processing all that Christa has shared in her book and there is much more to be said, but here three take-aways (there are many more):
I understand why many survivors/advocates do not trust the SBC or current leadership and are waiting to see action. I’ve only summarized Christa’s account here, but what we’re looking at is a history of talking a lot, wringing our hands, passing resolutions, and then finally…doing nothing (all the while attacking those who report abuse and call for reform). Yes, back in 2008 a lot of churches finally began doing background checks, but that’s a minimal result. Our system that allows serial abusers to move from church to church has not changed and a decade later a large number of our leaders continue to throw up our hands and say “church autonomy.”
I’m thankful for the changes we’re making, and I think the change to our SBC constitution and credentials committee is a good step. But until we actually see these policies in action, and actually result in keeping abusers from finding safe haven in our churches, it’s just words on paper and soundbites from denominational platforms. Even the #CaringWell conference and challenge will be meaningless if more churches don’t get involved and those churches don’t make real and meaningful changes back in their home churches. Trust is earned, and we must follow through here.
Spiritual abuse often goes hand in hand with sexual abuse. Perhaps the most alarming part of Christa’s story of abuse, which I’ve now heard in many other stories, is how this minister used scripture and manipulated her faith and desire to please God to satisfy his own vile lusts. Over and over again, her abuser cruelly twisted God’s word into a warped evil caricature. What God designed for Good, this minister used for evil. We don’t talk much about spiritual abuse, but it is a real issue in our churches as ministers use the Scripture and the “spiritual authority” of their position for selfish ends. In the case of Christa and so many others, that end is sexual abuse. The effects of that abuse on a person’s concept of God and their ability to find hope in him is devastating. For many, “When faith has been used as a weapon, it becomes almost impossible to use it as a resource for healing” (213).
This will be important for us as we seek to care well for the abused. I’m thankful for the testimony of those who have found hope and healing in Jesus Christ. That is my desire for every person who has suffered abuse. My hope is that God would use us to be vessels of mercy that God uses to show His love and care for them and that the gospel would truly be received as Good News.
I also understand why so many are not in a place where they can enter a church, trust a pastor, or hear certain truths of Scripture. The things of God have been mishandled and wickedly exploited as to intentionally inflict harm instead of love and grace and care. Those who seek to minister to others who have been abused both sexually and spiritually will need the to depend on the Holy Spirit to grant wisdom, understanding, patience, grace and for him to do the work that only he can do.
We need to listen to the stories of those who have been abused. Christa’s story is an important one. There are many others. We need to become much more familiar with the stories of those who have been abused in our churches. In doing so we learn about the experiences of survivors, we understand how predators groom the vulnerable, we come face to face with evil and corruption in our midst, we find ourselves culpable for our actions and inactions in protecting and caring for others, and it drives us to dig deeper to find how the gospel speaks to all of this. I hope that many more pastors, leaders, and other believers would take the time to listen and learn and grow and grieve and repent and act.
As Christa closes her book, that is her challenge to us as Southern Baptists to actually do something about the sexual abuse crisis in our midst: “We tell our stories. We give our testimony. We bear witness…. And I believe that the cumulative power of those stories will eventually compel the people of this in-the-dark denomination to convert to an ethical practice that prioritizes kid-protection ahead of institutional protection” (219).
I hope she’s right.
[i] Currently on backorder at Amazon, but available used at AbeBooks and Ebay
I think a lot of us thought, as we watched this scandal erupt in the Catholic Church, that this couldn’t possibly happen in the SBC at large. But alas, we live in a fallen world, and it doesn’t matter the organization: churches, schools, clubs, workplaces or politics, sin will find it’s way in, it was only a matter of time that these things started to come to light. We do harm to the gospel and to the very name of Christ when we attempt to cover up, minimize or make excuses for the problem. Just because you don’t encounter it in your church or your community doesn’t mean that it can’t happen, and it doesn’t mean it isn’t happening. Accountability systems must be in place, we must teach our children how to act on and report abuses, and for the love of God we must stop the protectionist thinking. It’s a dark time we live in, but it is what it is. We MUST act.
Obviously no denomination is immune to this sort of thing. But the most appalling and convicting part of her book is the narrative describing her appearance in front of the SBC Executive Committee. That a group of individuals, mostly men, nominated and elected to serve as leaders of a denomination could react and act the way they did to a victim that had indisputable evidence of having been sexually abused in one of the denomination’s affiliated congregations is a clear indication that something is gravely wrong with the process that picked them.
Wade Burleson’s motion at the 2007 convention (Items #13 and #44 in the proceedings in the Annual) was referred to the executive committee. If you’re familiar with the motions process at the SBC you know that referral of a motion means the messengers will likely never see it again. It’s a moot point as to what the convention might have done with the motion, since clearly the convention leadership did not want the messengers to have an opportunity to speak to it though I doubt that particular convention body at that time would have done anything differently than the convention leadership wanted.
Looking at the narrative above which is a brief review of Christa Brown’s book, using her experience as an example, at what point would the actions taken by the SBC in Birmingham this past June have been implemented in this particular case? Would they have to wait until the results of a law suit in the secular courts was settled? Noting that the state convention even had a name for the program they had in place for dealing with abuse, which turned out to also be a dead end, would it be worth pursuing the data base option in state convention?
Folks, please note this line: “This Little Light was released 10 years ago”
And let that ring in your ears and eyes every time you hear or see people who held power, influence, leadership, authority in the SBC longer than the last 5 years say “Well, we didn’t know it was this bad.”
It’s not because no one told them it was this bad. It’s because they chose to ignore books like This Little Light, and people like Christa Brown.
So let’s start by catching up: read, listen, hear what we have and haven’t done. Listen to the implications of what our systems do. And let’s start making some changes. We’ve erred on the side of protecting preachers, but maybe we preachers need to accept a little risk and start erring on the side of protecting children.
I think one problem is some people have viewed this as a Church Discipline issue instead of a legal one. Legal authorities should have gotten involved more often than not. Instead churches have assumed it’s “just a sin issue” and could deal with it quietly without anyone facing legal trouble. There is also the latent belief that, “Oh, that’s not possible, I know him. He couldn’t do that.” And that’s how cases like Christa’s get swept under the rug. It’s hard sometimes when it’s a he said/she said, but that’s why we have arbiters in the law. It’s their job to decide that.
Just to be clear (for those who likely are NOT going to read my book)… my case was never a matter of people thinking “Oh that’s not possible….” He himself had made incriminating statements to another minister, and the senior pastor also knew. So did others. So, it was never a matter of leaders thinking “I know him – he couldn’t do that.” Rather, it was a matter of leaders knowing he did it but thinking it didn’t matter enough to do anything about it (other than to silence me). I was disposable; he was laudable & sent on his way to a new church. And by the time I was again reporting it as an adult (when, like many cases, it was too late for criminal prosecution thanks in large measure to the church’s cover-up), it wasn’t a he said/she said matter then either. It was a he said vs. she said/he said/BGCT said. Others knew what I was saying was true, substantiated my report, and confirmed that they believed me. But it was still a “no big deal.” No one thought it mattered enough to take any action. It wasn’t disbelief; it was “don’t care.” As a mother, I still think that’s downright horrifying… but of course, it has happened over & over & over & over & over & over & over again.
That’s an important distinction. I was going to chime in with that, but the author beat me to it.
Thank you, Todd.
Christa, I just got your book today and plan to start reading it tonight.
Thank you, Christa, for writing this. I’ll add it to my reading list (when time allows).
“It was disbelief; it was ‘don’t care.'” Gosh, yes, a thousand times over. Oh heavens to Betsy yes.
Amen to all of the above, including the two comments so far. Something for pastors to consider: you may well encounter resistance to doing more than the “bare minimum” to protect children in your church. Don’t be afraid to implement wise guidelines in your church…Caring Well is an excellent resource. I’ve encountered some who think, “let’s do only what insurance requires.” This isn’t about protecting against a lawsuit. Protect your people, especially children, above all.
The story of Christa Brown is awful. Let’s encourage each other in the process of seeing that this doesn’t happen on our watch.
View from the pews: You might not personally know of a case of pastor-sexual-abuse-of-minor. But haven’t we all experienced some of the following, which lend themselves to abuse?
– Pastor has so much freedom and authority that often literally no one knows where he is or what he is doing.
– Same for staff members.
– Completely unacceptable staff/pastor behavior that was justified, excused, called a “one time” incident, and instantly “forgiven” while discouraging anyone from asking even a clarifying question or looking any further.
– Deacons, teacher, or other lay leaders with KNOWN longterm inappropriate character but no one will act (e.g., affair, DUI, wandering eye, inappropriate comments/jokes, people of the opposite sex know to avoid them, church receives repetitive complaints about them, or dictatorial, unnecessarily disruptive, whatever); they are considered untouchable due to their position or their financial support.
– Secrets, things covered up; things no loyal church member will mention.
– Popular pastors/staff members being treated far more graciously and leniently than less popular ones. Erratic policy application.
– Past pastor or staff member whose name cannot be mentioned once they’ve left the church (oh why dredge up the past?)
– Staff crises known to the congregation but handled with zero info to the congregation, because we’re “moving on,” why satisfy people’s curiosity about “all the gory details”? (no, as leaders of your committees, we want to know whether this was preventable and whether we need to act to change!!)
– Never bringing in a third party (except the church’s lawyer and/or insurer) to any church or staff crisis or incident, no matter how severe
– Credible people who brought something unsettling to staff attention but were dismissed as “negative” or “naysayers”
– No review or change of policy or procedure following “unfortunate” church incidents, including sudden departures of any staff
– Practices that our own workplaces’ HR probably would not tolerate.
IMO theology was involved: specifically, “priesthood of the believer” applied in ways that resist spiritual accountability among one another, or church action at all. If everything spiritual is deemed totally between the individual and God, no one may call anyone else to account (harsh!), or express concern about another individual — ESPECIALLY the pastor. His God-calling was considered so sacrosanct and admirable that no one was to speak into his life – except encouragingly. To allow exceptions was deemed a slippery slope toward criticism, discouragement and — the real fear — leaving. More theology: “I’m a sinner too, who am I to notice a log in my brother’s/sister’s eye?” “Aren’t we just supposed to forgive?” “We need to protect the witness of the church!”
Although I understand this thinking, all ‘grace,’ partiality, instant forgiveness and little/no accountability make a great place for abuse.
Karen, you’ve raised some insightful points here about the broader patterns we could all have seen (or already saw), and it’s an easy step from these patterns to the deeper sexual patterns so many seemed to pretend did not exist.
Thank you.
Please note I am NOT suggesting constant eagle-eye scrutiny, criticism, and witch-hunts. That is a false dichotomy. I am saying this is a teachable moment on accountability in accord with being the body of Christ, to protect the weak and the strong from Satan’s schemes.
Todd, thanks for bringing this book and the comments from the conference to our attention. I told my fellow SBCers years ago there would be a reckoning for us, and that our finger-pointing in the direction of the Catholic Church would come back to bite us. Even so, I had no idea the depth nor breadth of apathy amongst so many of our leaders.
I’ll add Ms Brown’s book to my reading list, closer to the top than the bottom. Thanks.
I’m glad you spoke out. Finger pointing is just bad.
Todd,
Thank you for helping reveal not only Christa’s story but the broader problem we face in the SBC.
Christa has been saying this for years, but we haven’t been listening. I’m quite late to the punch.
Not too late brother.
What are local churches doing to remove deacons, elders, youth pastors, assistant pastors, and pastors who think it was just fine to have sex with people they weren’t married to? I want to know. Seriously. You can have a Caring Well curriculum all you want, but what about all the church leaders who have accepted this for decades? Who is calling them out?
No one, if (1) due to partiality (wealth, family, influence, power, popularity, service) they are deemed untouchable, and/or (2) the church believes that only the individual is accountable for these private free choices – however bad – and unless it gets disruptive or widely known, let’s not get involved.
Todd: Christa was kind enough to send me a copy of this book 10 years ago when it first came out. I could not put it down, then I could not get it out of my mind. At the time I was blogging and Christa, Tiffany Thigpen were blogging about their experiences with child sexual abuse. The Gilyard story was beyond the pale in shaking me to the core, then Christa and Snap entered my life, and I helped by blogging about the SBC and the sexual abuses then, which as noted met with silence. I was so angry back then, but determined that we as an organization could change, and here we are today. I applaud Christa for this wonderful, hard reading, emotional rendering book because it shows in detail the battle that was had and in a smaller way still is, though I still have hope that this will never happen to another child again in the SBC. I hope the world. Thank you so much Christa for being a friend, advocate, and so much more. This book is more timely now than it was 10 years ago when it shook me to the core reading it.
Todd: Your summation of this book plus Christa’s added comment is very good. Thank you for caring as you do. God bless you in all you do.
Todd:
Thanks for a review of Christa’s book. What a heartbreaking tale.
I think there are good changes being made today relating to this issue.
I don’t believe in the database thing, but beyond that there are many things churches can do to address abuse. I see a lot of hopeful signs.
I appreciate Todd’s review and thoughts.
Not in line for any credit, but I had this book in 2010 (Christa sent it to me) and reviewed it on an old bulletin board site that was popular at the time, BaptistLife. Several years before that, there were discussions on abuse in SBC churches on baptislife.com. You couldn’t find Baptist Press or the state papers touching this stuff, although Bob Allen and Associated Baptist Press wrote hundreds of articles on it.
The conclusion that Christa arrlved at after the abuse and a lot of grief when she pursued the perp and tried to get something done, was that SBC leaders and others wished she would “just shut up and go away.” That still encapsulates a good bit of the attitudes today.
When you say, Todd, that “Our system that allows serial abusers to move from church to church has not changed and a decade later a large number of our leaders continue to throw up our hands and say “church autonomy,” I don’t dispute it. It would also be accurate to say that our system is limited in how the problem of clergy abuse may be addressed.
The abuse study group, and ERLC, have yet to address that save for recommending that a more streamlined and aggressive process be put in place and used that would exclude churches who harbor abusers or mishandle abuse. We’ll see where that goes.
Todd
I just returned from vacation and I want. to thank you for highlighting Christa Brown’s book. It has broken my heart that she continues to be ignored by the some of the leaders in the SBC. Frankly, I cannot understand why. I began using the well documented information on her Stop Baptist Predators website years ago.
Thank you for your thoughtful post.
For our reading audience, here is William’s original review:
http://forums.baptistlife.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7563&start=0&hilit=christa+brown+book
and a subsequent blog post:
http://sbcplodder.blogspot.com/2010/06/this-lady-could-save-your-ministry.html
Christa’s experience is infuriating and heartbreaking. Because of efforts such as hers, it seems the tide is turning against predator-clergy and enablers. We pray for such progress. As a childhood victim of sexual abuse (from a relative, not in church), I would also hope that we not get tunnel vision and focus all our efforts only on sexual abuse happening in church. Even if we were successful in eliminating all of that, many of the children in our churches would still be abused in their homes and other places by family members, by family friends, by relatives, by coaches, by teachers, etc. And there remain in our churches adults who were abused as children. Things to think about:
1. Most victims of sexual abuse will never tell anyone. This comes from a fear that can’t be understood by those who’ve not been abused, and will not easily be overcome. No matter how high the number who report, it will never be more than a fraction of the real number. Such victims are likely to be present in EVERY congregation.
2. Sexual abuse in the church is not an anomaly in our society. As shocking as it may seem to us, sexual abuse in the church is simply reflective of (and consistent with) what’s been happening in our society for generations. The reason we’ve been caught off guard is only because we wrongly assumed that the church was immune.
3. Are we only interested in preventing our children from being abused by clergy or do we want to prevent them from being abused by anyone–in or out of church? And what can we do toward that?
Excellent questions.