The Southern Baptist Convention established a task force to look into the problem of sexual abuse in many of its member churches. It has been known for some time that abuse was a more serious problem in Southern Baptist circles, The Houston Chronicle and other news outlets have been investigating hundreds of allegations and potential allegations of abuse within SBC churches for years. The Convention's own task force has now released a report with well over 700 names of accused abusers in many member churches across the South and the country. It should be pointed out that because of the nature of Baptist ecclesial polity, the Southern Baptist Convention itself can do very little to actually discipline these alleged abusers ecclesiastically, one advantage that victim advocates like Boz Tchvidian (a grandson of Dr. Billy Graham) say that the Catholic Church actually does have over more congregational churches. The SBC, like other such bodies in the Baptist tradition, are loose confederations. Churches voluntarily join, and they can choose to voluntarily leave. Whatever the rules are, if churches don't like them, they can leave the convention, they can theoretically start their own body, they can choose for their congregation not to be a part of any higher body at all. Most Baptist organizational bodies that have many member churches were historically organized in order to support missionary work. These bodies evolved into religious denominations which subscribe to a message of faith.
Since the nature and scope of our own sex abuse crisis in the Catholic Church became abundantly clear in the early 2000s (and has since become far worse as many more cases have become known, and criminal charges and Church disciplinary action have become more commonplace), not a few Baptist friends and acquaintances had originally pointed to the discipline of priestly celibacy as a big part of the reason they thought we had an abuse crisis. Of course, many of us countered that celibacy was not the reason, the real reason is Satan, and more specifically that churches can be places for abusers to hide out, because they should be a place of trust for families and young people.
The release of the SBC task force report sadly proves that assertion to be correct. Baptists do not have celibate ministers, indeed most all Baptists would chafe at the very idea, but the members of the Southern Baptist task force examining the issue of abuse admit that their list is far from complete (because of the nature of Baptist governance, they may never be able to complete the list). Catholics who think that clerical celibacy of any kind is what caused sexual abuse in the Church should pay close attention to this burgeoning scandal in the largest Protestant denomination in America, one where celibacy has simply never been part of the religious tradition.
If anyone reading this believes that the intent of this column is to play a game of “gotcha” with Southern Baptists or others of a similar religious outlook, that is not the case at all. A person cannot live in the American South for any serious length of time and not develop relationships with Baptists, very often members of churches that are part of the Southern Baptist Convention. For many of us who call this part of the United States our home, some of our dearest friends and family members are a part of this religious tradition.
The Southern Baptists have been numerically on the decline for some years now, although admittedly that decline comes after an initial period of phenomenal growth following the Second World War, largely because of a commitment by the denomination to reach outside of its traditional geographical base of the American South. Baptists are not the detailed record keepers that Catholics (or for that matter Methodists and Presbyterians) tend to be by comparison, but based on the limited records they do keep, it appears that baptisms and commitments to Christ have been on the wane in Southern Baptist churches, including within the South itself. It is fair to say that the Southern Baptist Convention for years has been the very heart of the evangelical movement in the United States. The news of a long rumored but now widening abuse crisis within the ranks of the SBC will do more to hasten that decline, at least for a season.
The news of the scope of this abuse scandal comes as the Southern Baptist Convention continues to struggle as a body, as it has for many years, with the controversial nature of its own origins as the lone surviving Southern sectional denomination from the antebellum period. The group of churches that would become the Southern Baptist Convention split from the Triennial [Baptist] Convention because that body refused to send a slave owner on missionary work. The SBC began as a denominational body openly in explicit support of slavery, a fact that was controversial even in 1845 when it happened. There were other similar Southern denominational bodies but they eventually reconciled, for good and ill, with their Northern brethren. The Southern Baptists did not, and at least indirectly supported segregation and opposed civil rights, positions which virtually none of their leadership would take today, and it's fair to say that none of them would believe in today. However, the denomination’s struggle to reconcile its own history with its long-standing commitment to spreading the Gospel in missionary fashion-as well as to a more traditional and biblical vision of Christianity-has led to some painful fights within their ranks about what it means to deal with the past. Those disagreements have included whether what is called “critical race theory” (which for many people has become a part of “wokeness”) has a place in Christian thought. I suspect that fight isn't going away, and will further contribute to the denomination’s dwindling numbers unless they can get a handle on how to deal with it [I may address my own thoughts about these matters in some future column here].
Part of the description for this Substack newsletter says that I will sometimes talk about the South or Southern culture, and in that vein, it should pointed out that Baptists, especially Southern Baptists, are such an integral part of Southern culture that it is impossible to imagine a South without them. The cultural and religious influence of Baptists in the South is so great that I do not hesitate to say that the great advances of the pro-life movement in this country, and certainly in my own State, could not have happened without the influence of Southern Baptists. A South without Southern Baptists would be like a South without SEC College Football, Moon Pies, fried chicken, beans and cornbread, banana pudding, pick up trucks, stock car racing, the Grand Ole Opry, night fishing, bluegrass music, barbecue, cut off blue jeans, the Gaither Vocal Band, or conservative politics. In other words, it would be a South that wouldn't look very Southern. That is at least part of the reason why the depth of the apparent abuse crisis in the Southern Baptist Convention could affect society and culture in these parts at a far deeper level than the unshocking news that the Devil has been at work again among the followers of Jesus Christ.
I would like to address directly any readers, including a great many people in my life at various levels, who are Southern Baptists and who may just be hearing this news and may be trying to come to grips with it in their own way. As a Catholic deacon, I can share with you that not only have we been here before, we continue to have to deal with the crisis of abuse within the Church, and we may never be fully free of that legacy until the Lord returns again. We understand that this is part of the fallen nature of humanity, but it is also a testimony to our failures, the failures of our leaders and the failures of our people, to protect our most vulnerable members, those young people and other vulnerable persons who most needed the message of Jesus Christ. The things I am about to share with you are my own thoughts about the putrid scandal of sexual abuse of children and vulnerable people within the Church, and what I believe you may have in store in your faith communities in the days and weeks, the months and years ahead.
Firstly, yes, this list of names and numbers of cases which are known appears to be very bad. Even “the List,” which quite clearly was not originally intended to be disseminated or published, is redacted. The situation is not as bad as it appears, it is likely much worse than you could possibly imagine. You need to be prepared to hear from many more victims, because you likely will. When those victims come forward, you need to be prepared to take their allegations seriously and to investigate them thoroughly, even if that means a great deal of cost to your local church. You must treat alleged victims with compassion, love, and genuine care. The integrity of the Gospel could be at stake if someone's allegation isn't taken seriously. The scandal you are now hearing about is apparently as deep as it is because the allegations of many people were not taken seriously, and quite a lot of those people were telling the truth.
Secondly, it is true that the secular press is not the friend of Christians, and in many cases is Antichrist. Secular media will pounce on any opportunity it can to make people of faith look bad and to besmirch and cripple the cause of Christ. Knowing and understanding that reality does not mean that the allegations investigated by secular press outlets are untrue or of minimal importance. Just because oppositional secular media are the ones who are going to report on the scandal the most does not mean the stories can be brushed under the rug. It will be all the more important to investigate any further abuse claims which might come to light, because in order to witness effectively to the Gospel, you have to be ready to “do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.” (cf. Micah 6:8)
Thirdly, be prepared to have your faith rocked to the core. Many of you will learn that some of the faith leaders you trusted were not or are not trustworthy. You will discover that some of them covered for abusers, and indeed that some of those who covered for abusers may now be in a position of great influence. It is also likely to be uncovered that some in high leadership positions were abusers themselves. As the scale of this scandal becomes more apparent, you will learn that people have been victims and people have been abusers that you were not expecting. Many will discover that you knew and trusted some abusers, and you knew some people in church who were victims of the abuse. In my own experience as a Catholic, I have been fortunate that I have not been a victim of abuse as a vulnerable person. However, there are very few of us who have been active in the Church over the years who have not been impacted by the sex abuse scandal in some way, and so it will be with many of you. Before the worst of this scandal passes, few of you who are the most active in your local churches will find yourselves totally unscathed by the scandal. A priest who sometimes used to hear my confessions in another diocese years ago is now in prison because he was a serial abuser of children. A priest of my own diocese who was popular and beloved is now in prison in a neighboring State for his abuse of a teenager. People have approached me to share about family members or friends who were abused in the Church, and they're dealing with the impact of that on their own faith. I even know clergy who were abused by the clergy as children, and who have spent part of their Ministry telling the tale and helping others as a part of their calling. As a result of all of this, however, the only clergy that my own children are allowed to be alone with is me. You will learn that even when you trust people and you know that you can, you cannot fully trust them in this day and age.
Fourthly, be prepared for lawsuits based on some of these allegations, and be prepared for your church to lose money and perhaps property as a result. Many Catholic dioceses, especially those up North, are currently in the position where they must close many parish churches in order to financially survive. The claims in our own abuse scandal are not the only reason such liquidation is happening, but the scandal and the resulting payoffs to victims are certainly playing a role. The Scripture tells us “be sure your sins will find you out,” (cf. Numbers 32:23) and indeed, we are at that place and have been for some time.
Fifthly, with the very real allegations of abuse and predation that you are hearing about and will continue to hear about in the time ahead will come false allegations against good and decent people in Ministry. We are living in an age when allegations of this nature are treated in such a way that the accused are often guilty until proven innocent, instead of the other way around. I know of two brother deacons who have been falsely accused of abuse based on very little evidence at all, and I know of priests for whom the mere allegation of wrongdoing of this kind had a permanent and negative impact on their reputations, even though they themselves were proven to have done no wrong. In all of the cases I mentioned, the parties were exonerated, but the damage done to the reputations of those individuals is permanent. I believe that many of you in the Southern Baptist community will see similar calumny against the “salt of the earth” along with the very real allegations against those who took advantage of your trust. You may find that you are shocked and who is guilty, and perhaps even more shocked at who is not.
Finally, it will be very hard on your hearts and souls as more information about abuse within the Southern Baptist Convention and similar ecclesial communities comes to light. I know that it will be difficult for some people to get up and go to church on Sunday, or to continue to be active in their local congregation as they may have been for many years. Rod Dreher, the great author, journalist, and conservative commentator is a former Catholic who now practices the Orthodox faith. He has a wonderful Substack newsletter himself, and he writes as an editor at The American Conservative. Investigating the scale of the Catholic abuse scandal as a journalist destroyed his faith as a Catholic. Today Mr. Dreher says he has found spiritual calm and peace as a Christian within the Orthodox Church, but his experience has taught him never to trust the clergy:
As my regular readers know, the anger over the injustice, and the impossibility of justice ever being done, because bishops lie, and most Catholics wanted to be lied to for the sake of protecting their personal peace, finally broke me. I lost my ability to believe in Catholic Christianity. Here was the breaking point: when I discovered that a conservative priest I had come to know and trusted was in fact a liar, and an accused molester. When I broke the news, some of the people at the parish where he ministered, and where my family and I had sought refuge (still believing, naively, that conservatives like us were safe), were furious at me for telling the truth. Eventually we ended up in the Orthodox Church, but I have never regained my trust in clerical authority. It’s not that I expect every priest or bishop I meet to be a bad guy. I certainly don’t. But I have no more ability to trust them naturally than a man whose legs were once mangled in a car crash has the ability to run a mile.
I wish that I could say that Rod Dreher's story about discovering that a priest he trusted was a liar and abuser surprises me, but it doesn't. That doesn't mean that I don't believe there not good priests and deacons out there, because I am ordained myself and I know that there are a great many holy clergy in the Church today. However, I am also deeply cognizant of just how wounded people's trust has become as a result of the abuse scandals in the Church, and I am very much aware not only that the scourge of abuse has destroyed people's trust in our religious leadership, but that the thing which most harmed that trust was not merely the abuse itself, but the apparent propensity of leadership to cover up the abuse and wrongdoing, rather than confront it. Further, I have had to wrap my mind over the years around the fact, as Mr. Dreher points out, that there have been entirely too many people in the pews and at the parish church level generally, who for a long time did not want to hear the truth.
It sounds as though this familiar scenario is now playing out among our Southern Baptist neighbors and friends. As more information becomes available about allegations that have been made against church leaders and others in the Southern Baptist Convention, some of you in the SBC who might read this will find that members of your local churches and worshiping communities do not trust any of their leadership, even people that they have previously trusted and who have given them no suspicion. Many people will begin to believe that there is a culture of cover-up so pervasive within the church that they cannot trust any of their leaders to be straight with them. My heart and my prayers especially go out to those of you who are pastors and deacons in local SBC churches who are not guilty of any wrongdoing but who will have to deal with the fallout from this terrible betrayal of the Gospel of Christ.
For my own part, I have come to understand on a very personal level why it is that even good, holy, pious, devout people do not trust Church leadership. If people do not trust me, or refuse to place authority in my preaching or teaching because they have not yet come to a position where they feel they can trust any church leader, even a deacon in a little country parish church, I can no longer say that I blame them.
If I could share anything with congregational leaders in the Southern Baptist Convention, it would be that a scandal like this involves the rebuilding of trust, and for that it takes the patience of Job, a great deal of love and time, and an understanding that leading the People of God in a time of scandal like this is part of what it means to bear the Lord's Cross. (cf. Matthew 16:24)
The spiritual wreck created by abuse in the Church can only be healed with the love, help and Grace of Almighty God, and only one soul at a time. The loss of monetary and material patrimony or property, or even the possibility of such losses, is not a good thing and its impact should not be underestimated. However, the damage to souls as a result of abuse is far worse than the damage caused by the loss of a church's property, money, or goods. The lost trust of many of the families, and especially of the young people, who were abused while in the care of Southern Baptist churches may take generations to rebuild, and many of the good and upright people in leadership who are willing to begin that process now will not be on this Earth to see the positive results of their efforts. Nevertheless, those efforts must begin.
Finally, no words which I may write can possibly express my personal sorrow and horror for the victims of sexual abuse and predation that we are now hearing about in yet another church community. The Bible does indeed tell us that “judgment begins at the House of the Lord (cf. 1 Peter 4:17),” but the damage done to the precious Souls of the people who were hurt, not to mention the thousands, if not millions of other Souls who will hear about these abuse incidents and the church leaders who were involved in them, and it will cause them to turn away from Christ. One of the things which the Catholic Church has learned from our own abuse scandal is that perhaps the biggest mistake that our leaders made over the years (even though in many cases some were advised to do so by “professionals” at the time), was allowing people who were known to be guilty of crimes of sexual abuse and predation to remain in a position of public ministry, however reduced that might have been in individual cases, because those who committed abuse but were allowed to remain in public ministry of any kind were far more likely to offend again. Jesus warned us what would if we cause his little ones to sin, we might have very large millstones tied around us.
As difficult as it may be in present circumstances, ways must be found to remove known abusers from public ministry. Houses of God should be a safe haven for anyone who is a victim of sexual abuse and predation, not a place that they are afraid to go back to because it brings back the most terrible recollections.
If any Southern Baptist reads this column, and you have some influence in your congregation, now is the time to remove the credibly accused from public ministry. If the purpose of what you are doing in your churches is the Salvation of Souls, you need to worry about the souls especially of those who have been hurt by the church. Remember that the darkest hour is just before the dawn. You have a wonderful opportunity for reform, and reform in a way that helps those who are terribly vulnerable.
Everyone who has been hurt by abuse in churches, in any way, is a beloved child of God. Only justice will help many of them not to give up on the Lord Jesus. Justice and mercy are both important parts of the Christian message and the Christian Life, but when you are dealing with a crisis of abuse and abusers, Justice cannot take a back seat to mercy. There can be no mercy without truth or Justice, so let us pray that out of the ashes of this abuse scandal a new opportunity will present itself for the SBC for genuine reform and renewal. That renewal can come, if you are willing to testify to the truth.
I pray that my thoughts have not been taken wrongly by Southern Baptist friends, acquaintances, and even family, but I believe that we can learn from history and what has happened before, and the present state of affairs of the Southern Baptist Convention can give their members hope that not only will abuse and abusers not be tolerated, but that in the future it will be far less likely for it to happen again.