NOTE: the smiley face was NOT supposed to be included, but I somehow accidentally clicked it. I am asking Mods to remove the smiley face from the post, as the post subject is a sad thing that pervades ALL churches AND most all large groups and not just the SBC or the Catholic Church. I apologise for accidentally including the smiley face and not noticing it until it as pointed out to me. Thank you for pointing it out. Now, the post...hopefully this kind of left-wing corruption can be cleared out of our churches as well as cleared out of our society, not enabled by the left-wing to thrive.

Southern Baptist Convention leaders publish long-secret list of accused ministers

Quote:A top Southern Baptist Convention committee long kept a secret list of accused ministers.

On Thursday night, SBC leaders finally released the 205-page list.

Southern Baptist Convention leaders published Thursday a list of accused abusive ministers that previous staff maintained in secret for more than a decade.

The list's release is seen as an important first step in response to a historic report from investigative firm Guidepost Solutions into SBC leaders' failure to address sexual abuse for more than two decades.

The list contains the names of nine individuals who remain in ministry, two of whom reportedly are at SBC affiliated churches.

“Each entry in this list reminds us of the devastation and destruction brought about by sexual abuse," they said. "Our prayer is that the survivors of these heinous acts find hope and healing, and that churches will utilize this list proactively to protect and care for the most vulnerable among us.”

The list, published on the SBC's website at http://www.sbc.net, itself is 205 pages long, including numerous links to news articles as well as descriptions of charges and convictions.

It is being released in the exact form it was provided to Guidepost Solutions, with entries included in their entirety that referenced “an admission, confession, guilty plea, conviction, judgment, sentencing, or inclusion on a sex offender registry.”

Names of survivors and other individuals not related to the offender were redacted.

“Other entries where preliminary research did not indicate a disposition that fits within the described parameters have been redacted," Slade and McLaurin said in the statement. "Entries that do not relate to sexual abuse or that resulted in an acquittal are also redacted."

Some of the redacted entries may be released after further research, they said.

In 2007, Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee staff began logging news articles and other public reports of ministers accused of sexual misconduct. A year later, one of those officials later led the committee to reject a proposal for a clergy abuser database.

"Releasing this list is a symbolic gesture. 'This is the bare minimum thing we can do,'" Todd Benkert, an Indiana pastor who has pushed for abuse reform initiatives in the SBC, said in an interview Tuesday.

The executive committee manages denomination business when the full convention isn't in session during the annual meeting, and is comprised of about 30 staff and a board of elected members.

The staff who maintained that list no longer work for the executive committee. The list's existence was largely a secret until the release of Guidepost's report on Sunday, which revealed many shocking examples of leaders habitually blocking abuse awareness and reform.

The list and officials' maintenance of it, though only one example in the report, embodies those leaders' behavior toward abuse.

'Nothing wrong with our doing it'

An unnamed employee and Roger "Sing" Oldham, former executive committee vice president for convention communications, maintained the log for August "Augie" Boto, former executive committee general counsel and then interim president/CEO, Guidepost investigators found.

"No action was ever taken to share these materials outside a small cadre of people, or to take action to address the possibility that these accused individuals might continue in ministry in SBC churches," Guidepost's report found.

In August 2013, Boto asked the unnamed staff member to send the list to Jim Guenther, an attorney with the executive committee's longtime law firm, Guenther, Jordan & Price.

"We are going to keep doing this and there is absolutely nothing wrong with our doing it. Basically, we are stuffing newspaper clippings in a drawer," Boto emailed the employee, according to Guidepost's report. "Anybody could do that."

Guidepost investigators confirmed the list was sent to Guenther, but the attorney told investigators his firm didn't receive it.

In May 2019, Oldham mentioned the list in an email to Ronnie Floyd, then executive committee president & CEO, and others, saying they previously considered publishing the list, but were concerned about subsequent liability.

Floyd told investigators he never received the list.
'Tip of the iceberg'

Investigators said at one point, the list contained 703 names, with 409 believed to have been at SBC-affiliated churches.

"If they’re not even willing to do that (publish the list), then the writing would be on the wall for future things. It’s some saying ‘We’re serious about this. This is the stuff we can take today and we’re going to take it,'" Benkert said.

A motion from Benkert at the 2021 SBC annual meeting led to an assessment of sexual abuse in the SBC, which is different than Guidepost's investigation into the executive committee and is set to conclude by 2024. That assessment will survey the issue throughout SBC churches and potentially identify cases of abuse that have not been publicly reported.

The list published this week is based on information already out there. "That’s just the tip of the iceberg," Benkert said.

To report abuse

The Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee has also formed an agreement with Guidepost to maintain a hotline for survivors and others to submit allegations of abuse. Guidepost will not be inquiring into the allegations at this time, but will hold the information confidentially while the SBC’s Sexual Abuse Task Force establishes processes for inquiries.

For victims of sexual abuse or for those who suspect sexual abuse by a pastor, staff member or member of a Southern Baptist church or entity. The hotline can be reached at 202-864-5578 or SBChotline@guidepostsolutions.com.

Read the list on SBC's site: List of ministers accused of abuse

Guidepost report: 'Ignored, disbelieved': Southern Baptist Convention sexual abuse report details cover up, DECADES of inaction

The list, released by the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), followed a report that contained more than 700 names, with more than 400 included via direct affiliation with the religious denomination.

On the list are four individuals who remain in leadership positions within the denomination’s churches. The list was primarily a secret until Guidepost’s report was made public on Sunday. [/url]

Wait a minute, didn't they get the memo it was only Cathoic Priests who were abusers? Must be some kind of mistake? Still waiting for the release of the tens of thousands of Publik Skewl abusers that seems to be still suppressed, might the unions have something to do wit dat? Oh, and the Boy Scouts list, and the DNC lists...et cetera....Decades of inaction? Oh, my Mr. Sulu....



NOTE: the smiley face was NOT supposed to be included, but I somehow accidentally clicked it. I am asking Mods to remove the smiley face from the post, as the post subject is a sad thing that pervades ALL churches AND most all large groups and not just the SBC or the Catholic Church. I apologise for accidentally including the smiley face and not noticing it until it as pointed out to me. Thank you for pointing it out. Now, the post...hopefully this kind of left-wing corruption can be cleared out of our churches as well as cleared out of our society, not enabled by the left-wing to thrive.

Its rather disturbing that you seem to be taking some sick joy in this.

Sexual abuse is disgustingly wrong, no matter if its coming from Catholics or Protestants.

Shame on you for how you chose to frame this. There is NOTHING Christian about making light of this and viewing this disturbing issue as some kind of sick team sport. What is wrong with you?

These people need to be prosecuted and removed from any position of authority within any church ever again.

I'm not going to touch the religion "third rail", other than to make this observation - - which will not come as a surprise to many of you legal geniuses on this board:

Some years ago I decided to sit in on the federal-court sentencing of a local p.o.s. grifter who had defrauded a number of my neighbors. It was fascinating - - mostly in the level of detail included in the pre-sentence report considered at length by the judge. The report provided a range for a recommended sentence, and included his reciting impressively long lists of both mitigating factors and aggravating factors. The judge made detailed factual findings for each of these factors in order to arrive at what turned out to be a pretty stiff sentence.

One of the aggravating factors for this particular guy was that he held himself out as a lay pastor. His fraudulent behavior was purely investment-related, and had nothing to do with his church duties (other than that is how some of his victims were introduced to him). But just the fact that he claimed the cloak of religion was an important aggravating factor considered by the judge in sentencing him. I just thought it interesting.

(05-27-2022 10:46 AM)ericsrevenge76 Wrote:  Its rather disturbing that you seem to be taking some sick joy in this.

Sexual abuse is disgustingly wrong, no matter if its coming from Catholics or Protestants.

Shame on you for how you chose to frame this. There is NOTHING Christian about making light of this and viewing this disturbing issue as some kind of sick team sport. What is wrong with you?

These people need to be prosecuted and removed from any position of authority within any church ever again.

Well if that denomination didn't talk down to others, they wouldn't get this flak. Agree on your post though but can understand why others find this interesting

Sent from my Pixel 6 using Tapatalk

good

wish the senate and house would do the same.

(05-27-2022 11:08 AM)shere khan Wrote:  good

wish the senate and house would do the same.

Yes. Yes. Yes.

(05-27-2022 11:01 AM)fsquid Wrote:  

(05-27-2022 10:46 AM)ericsrevenge76 Wrote:  Its rather disturbing that you seem to be taking some sick joy in this.

Sexual abuse is disgustingly wrong, no matter if its coming from Catholics or Protestants.

Shame on you for how you chose to frame this. There is NOTHING Christian about making light of this and viewing this disturbing issue as some kind of sick team sport. What is wrong with you?

These people need to be prosecuted and removed from any position of authority within any church ever again.

Well if that denomination didn't talk down to others, they wouldn't get this flak. Agree on your post though but can understand why others find this interesting

Sent from my Pixel 6 using Tapatalk

I don't give 2 flips about any denomination, the point is its disguising, its wrong and its hard to believe any Christian would take joy in such a story.

I wonder if the OP stopped to consider how Christ Himself views one of His followers making light and taking joy in the idea of a denomination having 700 pastors engaging in sexual abuse.

The OP needs to repent of this and take a serious look at himself. Something is way off here.

(05-27-2022 11:12 AM)ericsrevenge76 Wrote:  

(05-27-2022 11:01 AM)fsquid Wrote:  

(05-27-2022 10:46 AM)ericsrevenge76 Wrote:  Its rather disturbing that you seem to be taking some sick joy in this.

Sexual abuse is disgustingly wrong, no matter if its coming from Catholics or Protestants.

Shame on you for how you chose to frame this. There is NOTHING Christian about making light of this and viewing this disturbing issue as some kind of sick team sport. What is wrong with you?

These people need to be prosecuted and removed from any position of authority within any church ever again.

Well if that denomination didn't talk down to others, they wouldn't get this flak. Agree on your post though but can understand why others find this interesting

Sent from my Pixel 6 using Tapatalk

I don't give 2 flips about any denomination, the point is its disguising, its wrong and its hard to believe any Christian would take joy in such a story.

I wonder if the OP stopped to consider how Christ Himself views one of His followers making light and taking joy in the idea of a denomination having 700 pastors engaging in sexual abuse.

The OP needs to repent of this and take a serious look at himself. Something is way off here.

(05-27-2022 11:01 AM)AdoptedMonarch Wrote:  I'm not going to touch the religion "third rail", other than to make this observation - - which will not come as a surprise to many of you legal geniuses on this board:

Some years ago I decided to sit in on the federal-court sentencing of a local p.o.s. grifter who had defrauded a number of my neighbors. It was fascinating - - mostly in the level of detail included in the pre-sentence report considered at length by the judge. The report provided a range for a recommended sentence, and included his reciting impressively long lists of both mitigating factors and aggravating factors. The judge made detailed factual findings for each of these factors in order to arrive at what turned out to be a pretty stiff sentence.

One of the aggravating factors for this particular guy was that he held himself out as a lay pastor. His fraudulent behavior was purely investment-related, and had nothing to do with his church duties (other than that is how some of his victims were introduced to him). But just the fact that he claimed the cloak of religion was an important aggravating factor considered by the judge in sentencing him. I just thought it interesting.

Both the NT and Jesus Himself promises extra special judgements for those who do evil and cloak themselves in Christ as cover.

Wolves in sheep clothing.

They are going to get their just rewards 100 fold in the end.

(05-27-2022 11:14 AM)shere khan Wrote:  

That was one of the most righteous things Jesus ever did. They turned the Fathers house into a den of thieves. RIGHTEOUS indignation.

You think that was bad, wait until He returns and see what He does to the unrepentant wicked and evil on this earth. Turing over tables will seem like tea time in paradise compared to what's coming.

"Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him." Ps 2:12

(05-27-2022 10:46 AM)ericsrevenge76 Wrote:  Its rather disturbing that you seem to be taking some sick joy in this.

Sexual abuse is disgustingly wrong, no matter if its coming from Catholics or Protestants.

Shame on you for how you chose to frame this. There is NOTHING Christian about making light of this and viewing this disturbing issue as some kind of sick team sport. What is wrong with you?

These people need to be prosecuted and removed from any position of authority within any church ever again.

No, Eric, I do not take any joy in this. Maybe others do.

What too many seem to do is take sick joy in the false narrative that it is only the Catholic Church that has this problem. Clearly ALL of society has this problem, the Catholics were just the easy scapegoats for bigotry for a long time.

Shame on all those who have for decades taken sick pleasure in making light of the Catholic Church and shame on them who have made it acceptable and sporting to be openly bigoted against good Catholics with no recourse.

But then, when the light might be pointed at them, they become upset? There is NOTHING Christian about making light of the Catholic Church and its members and viewing this disturbing issue as some kind of sick team sport. What is wrong is with the millions who engage in that sick perspective openly and without pushback, some in their own sermons, openly and without remorse making anti-Catholicism a pillar of their belief?

The problem folks merely find where they can get away with their behaviors with the least trouble and go there. In the past, sadly, some Catholic Churches looked the other way. (But many Priests also did not). Today that is no longer the case as the Catholic Church has had a head-start on cleaning this out of their system, while other groups are just getting stated with the painful process of addressing the decades of this problem that lie within them. But there remain some in positions of power who are left-leaning, so until they are removed there is still potential. But it has become much harder to get away with in the Catholic Churches as policies have been implemented to shine a light on it.

The thing that is surprising to some is that parallel to the issues in the Catholic Churches, this thing has also been going on in other large groups, and the SBC is merely one of them. It is not hard to imagine any large group having very similar issues, religious or not. We see the corruption and enabling of the Democrat Party machine to push more of this into mainstream acceptance, and that is not helping the problem.

The lists that we won't ever see are the lists of those who are members of religion who are good and faithful, despite their human fallibility, but who make the old a better place each and every day, but get little or no recognition for it. Those good people include Catholics, Orthodox Christians, Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Jews, et cetera.....

"Accused"? Looks to me like all of them are behind bars or flat-out convicted. Wasn't the point of the initial news article that they're covering it up?

(05-27-2022 11:25 AM)GoodOwl Wrote:  

(05-27-2022 10:46 AM)ericsrevenge76 Wrote:  Its rather disturbing that you seem to be taking some sick joy in this.

Sexual abuse is disgustingly wrong, no matter if its coming from Catholics or Protestants.

Shame on you for how you chose to frame this. There is NOTHING Christian about making light of this and viewing this disturbing issue as some kind of sick team sport. What is wrong with you?

These people need to be prosecuted and removed from any position of authority within any church ever again.

No, Eric, I do not take any joy in this. Maybe others do.

You posted this with a little smiley face and an "oh my" comedy meme.

YES, you flat out did take joy in this and clearly saw it as a chance to "get back" at protestants because there are so many stories on this issue about the Catholic church.

So you chose to stand on the heads of all these victims and say "hahahaha, take that non Catholics".

The way you framed this was wrong, disgusting and horribly un-Christian.

Its wrong when people take pleasure in it when its the RCC, and its JUST AS WRONG when you did the same thing here.

(05-27-2022 11:32 AM)ericsrevenge76 Wrote:  

(05-27-2022 11:25 AM)GoodOwl Wrote:  

(05-27-2022 10:46 AM)ericsrevenge76 Wrote:  Its rather disturbing that you seem to be taking some sick joy in this.

Sexual abuse is disgustingly wrong, no matter if its coming from Catholics or Protestants.

Shame on you for how you chose to frame this. There is NOTHING Christian about making light of this and viewing this disturbing issue as some kind of sick team sport. What is wrong with you?

These people need to be prosecuted and removed from any position of authority within any church ever again.

No, Eric, I do not take any joy in this. Maybe others do.

You posted this with a little smiley face and an "oh my" comedy meme.

YES, you flat out did take joy in this and clearly saw it as a chance to "get back" at protestants because there are so many stories on this issue about the Catholic church.

So you chose to stand on the heads of all these victims and say "hahahaha, take that non Catholics".

The way you framed this was wrong, disgusting and horribly un-Christian.

Eric, I did not see the smiley face icon until you pointed it out. That was not intended, but fwiw my laptop is having keystroke problems as I type rather hard and fats and sometimes hit CTRL instead of shift. Anyway, with the accidental inclusion of the smiley icon in the listing I can now understand your reaction. I have tried to remove the smiley face from the OP, but it seems only a mod can do that, which I will request.

As to Mr. Sulu, his inclusion was a reference to how anti-Catholicism has been so accepted into our society that it actually helps enable these kinds of folks to enter into religious groups and do their thing. I pray for Mr. Sulu (George Takei) to examine himself, and he's an easy cultural reference to how his disordered attitudes and their slippery slope enable such horrors to happen in our churches and other groups.


It's not all 'take that non-Catholics', its: we ALL have this problem, and the anti-Catholicism that has been pushed with a false narrative has contributed to the problem, even to the extent that anti-Catholic attitude has been supported by and promoted by non-Catholic churches. THAT is the real non-Christian behavior here, but folks understandably o not like it when it is called out, for they have no intention of changing their anti-catholic perspectives, thus you get the seeds of this kind of corruption son and allowed to infiltrate in ways like listed in the report.

Maybe if folks stopped laughing at anti-Catholic jokes and changed their rhetoric we'd be closer to solving this. But then, the only people one can be acceptably openly bigoted toward seems to be Catholics and Catholic Priests. For things to get better, that unacceptable behavior has to change. We are not as different as those who seek to take advantage by protesting and dividing would seem to think. We are all universal. What's another word for that.

edit: I requested the smiley face to be removed by a Mod as I can find no way to emove it myslef. Thanks for pointing that out
edt2: smiley removed.

(05-27-2022 11:53 AM)GoodOwl Wrote:  

(05-27-2022 11:32 AM)ericsrevenge76 Wrote:  

(05-27-2022 11:25 AM)GoodOwl Wrote:  

(05-27-2022 10:46 AM)ericsrevenge76 Wrote:  Its rather disturbing that you seem to be taking some sick joy in this.

Sexual abuse is disgustingly wrong, no matter if its coming from Catholics or Protestants.

Shame on you for how you chose to frame this. There is NOTHING Christian about making light of this and viewing this disturbing issue as some kind of sick team sport. What is wrong with you?

These people need to be prosecuted and removed from any position of authority within any church ever again.

No, Eric, I do not take any joy in this. Maybe others do.

You posted this with a little smiley face and an "oh my" comedy meme.

YES, you flat out did take joy in this and clearly saw it as a chance to "get back" at protestants because there are so many stories on this issue about the Catholic church.

So you chose to stand on the heads of all these victims and say "hahahaha, take that non Catholics".

The way you framed this was wrong, disgusting and horribly un-Christian.

Eric, I did not see the smiley face icon until you pointed it out. That was not intended, but fwiw my laptop is having keystroke problems as I type rather hard and fats and sometimes hit CTRL instead of shift. Anyway, with the accidental inclusion of the smiley icon in the listing I can now understand your reaction. I have tried to remove the smiley face from the OP, but it seems only a mod can do that, which I will request.

As to Mr. Sulu, his inclusion was a reference to how anti-Catholicism has been so accepted into our society that it actually helps enable these kinds of folks to enter into religious groups and do their thing. I pray for Mr. Sulu (George Takei) to examine himself, and he's an easy cultural reference to how his disordered attitudes and their slippery slope enable such horrors to happen in our churches and other groups.


It's not all 'take that non-Catholics', its: we ALL have this problem, and the anti-Catholicism that has been pushed with a false narrative has contributed to the problem, even to the extent that anti-Catholic attitude has been supported by and promoted by non-Catholic churches. THAT is the real non-Christian behavior here, but folks understandably o not like it when it is called out, for they have no intention of changing their anti-catholic perspectives, thus you get the seeds of this kind of corruption son and allowed to infiltrate in ways like listed in the report.

Maybe if folks stopped laughing at anti-Catholic jokes and changed their rhetoric we'd be closer to solving this. But then, the only people one can be acceptably openly bigoted toward seems to be Catholics and Catholic Priests. For things to get better, that unacceptable behavior has to change. We are not as different as those who seek to take advantage by protesting and dividing would seem to think. We are all universal. What's another word for that.

If its wasn't intended then it wasn't intended. But there is no doubt that is how the post plainly came off. A flippant attitude about the abuse and a hahaha take that to non catholic churches.

I will never understand or identify with the need to defend a denomination or specific sect of Christianity. There are no catholics, protestants, baptist or any of that in heaven, there are only those saved by the blood of Christ through the gospel. There is no biblically endorsed Church or denomination in the Bible. Neither our salvation or identity comes by membership in any denomination or church, it comes by Christ alone.

But people grow up in the denominations and they seem themselves as a member of the denomination FIRST, and a follower of Christ second or third. They would all deny that but its as transparent as glass when it comes up. You insult Jesus or the gospel and they are not offended nor concerned, you speak or criticize their denomination AND YOU JUST MESSED UP BUDDY. HOW DARE YOU.

Its not right, and it exposes how many are more closely tied to their denomination than Christ and the gospel. If you are going to be offended for something, it should be for your Lord and Savior and the gospel far more than some man made denomination that will not even exist anymore when Christ returns for us.