I cannot recall ever sitting down to write something from a place of such profound sadness. The last few days have been cause for deep grief and lament. Chief among them is the sexual abuse cover-up and concerted effort to dismiss the pleas of survivors within a key committee of the Southern Baptist Convention. An …
Continue...The tragic reality of those who have been abused, marginalized, and stonewalled by many in the Southern Baptist Convention, as revealed by the Sexual Abuse Task Force report, is cause for deep lament and grief. In the midst of this dark moment, our first response is to cry out to the Lord. He alone can …
Continue...In What Is a Girl Worth?, Rachael Denhollander described the motive for her final statement at the Larry Nassar trial: “My heart’s cry as I spoke was . . . to remove the excuse of ignorance. To never again let the world say, ‘We did not know (p. 305).’” These words are also a fitting …
Continue...One obstacle to receiving care for current victims and survivors of past abuse is the tensions that emerge in the public discourse about abuse. While this obstacle exists in almost every setting, it is uniquely present within the church and Christian communities. Many factors contribute to the difficulty talking about abuse. In this article, we …
Continue...Clergy and laypersons within the Catholic Church in France sexually abused hundreds of thousands of minors over the past seven decades, according to a report published on Tuesday by an independent commission. The commission concluded the problem in the French church was far more pervasive and systematic than previously known. According to their findings, “The …
Continue...This month two SBC committees, the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention and the Board of Trustees of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), held meetings in which they addressed concerns related to sexual abuse. During the recent 2021 Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting, a motion was made calling for an “audit and …
Continue...Let’s start this chapter by admitting that we like to use hyperbole — extreme examples to clarify our points. We Christians may be particularly fond of it when we’re illustrating an important theme of the gospel, such as forgiveness. Is hyperbole bad? No, Jesus used it (Matthew 5:27–30). Can it be used poorly? Yes. But …
Continue...As an entity of the Southern Baptist Convention, we are privileged to come alongside Southern Baptist churches in various ways. From Capitol Hill to the pew, we engage with SBC churches as they live on mission in their local communities, displaying the Kingdom of God to a watching world. One of the most important initiatives …
Continue...The ERLC, together with the Sexual Abuse Advisory Group of the SBC, has continued working to try to prevent more terrible instances of abuse from happening in the future and to care well for victims. That’s why we wanted to focus this issue of Light Magazine on educating and equipping Christians to stand against sexual …
Continue...The disruption of my life began at age 14 in my small Southern Baptist church a few miles outside of Birmingham, Alabama. For months, my youth minister had showered me with flattering attention, telling me that God had chosen me to help his ministry. This grooming led to 18 months of progressively worse sexual abuse, …
Continue...