NASHVILLE (BP) – Members of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee voted for the waiving of attorney client privilege within the scope of an independent third-party investigation of the EC concerning the handling of sexual abuse claims. The Sexual Abuse Task Force, assembled by SBC President Ed Litton, was mandated by messengers to the 2021 SBC Annual Meeting in June and will oversee the investigation.

Trustees met for more than three and a half hours via Zoom before the group voted in favor of a motion to waive privilege by a margin of 44-31. Three members abstained from the vote. Six members of the committee resigned between today’s meeting and the meeting on Sept. 28.

The motion, made by EC member Jared Wellman, calls for a selective waiving of attorney client privilege “that includes an investigation into any allegations of abuse, mishandling of abuse, mistreatment of victims, a pattern of intimidation of victims or advocates, and resistance to sexual abuse reform initiatives of the actions and decisions of staff and members of the Executive Committee from January 1, 2000, to June 14, 2021.”

“I’m encouraged by today’s vote that honors the will of the messengers who spoke clearly in Nashville and in recent days about their desire for a transparent investigation,” Wellman said.

Litton said, “I am grateful, especially after many difficult weeks of discussion, that the full, transparent, and unimpeded investigation will now commence. Even so, it is critical to remember that today’s vote marks not the end, but the beginning of this process.”

The selective waiving of privilege means that documents and interviews must fit in a limited window:

Allegations of abuse by Executive Committee members.
Mishandling of abuse allegations by Executive Committee members between Jan. 1, 2000, to June 14, 2021.
Allegations of mistreatment of sexual abuse victims by Executive Committee members from Jan. 1, 2000, to June 14, 2021.
Patterns of intimidation of sexual abuse victims or advocates from Jan. 1, 2000, to June 14, 2021.
Resistance to sexual abuse reform initiatives from Jan. 1, 2000, to June 14, 2021.

The motion also gave EC Chairman Rolland Slade authority to execute the contract between the EC, the Sexual Abuse Task Force and Guidepost Solutions that was sent to trustees on Oct. 1. Guidepost is the third-party firm selected by the task force to carry out the investigation.

The contract calls for the creation of a Committee of Cooperation of the Executive Committee, which will be composed of four members from the EC. Two of the members will be chosen by the Sexual Abuse Task Force, and two members will be chosen by the EC. The committee will be led by SBC President Ed Litton.

At the end of the meeting, the EC voted to give Slade the authority to appoint the two members to be selected by the EC.

The members of the committee must be among those appointed to their first term on the EC in June 2021. This move allows participating EC members to be outside the scope of the Guidepost investigation.

According to the contract, the committee “is charged with:”

Financial oversight of the independent investigation in addition to the financial oversight exercised by the Task Force.
Electing, in cooperation with the Task Force, a liaison between the Executive Committee and Guidepost Solutions to ensure smooth flow of information and response to information requests.
Receipt of periodic monthly updates noting document, witness, and information requests made to the Executive Committee, to ensure information sought is consistent with and responded to in cooperation with the Motion passed by the Messengers at the SBC Convention in June 2021.
Ensuring that the Executive Committee and SBC are fully cooperative in this matter.

SBC EC President Ronnie Floyd said, “We thank all of the trustees for their diligence in addressing complex questions brought to bear by this process.”

He pledged the EC will work with the task force as they move forward.

“Now that the Executive Committee’s Board of Trustees have made their decision, the leadership and staff of the Executive Committee will provide support to Guidepost on implementing next steps to facilitate their investigation,” he said.

Bruce Frank, task force chair, responded to the EC on behalf of the task force, saying, “The task force is pleased with the strong vote today by the Executive Committee to abide by the moral imperative directed by the messengers, seminary presidents, state leaders and many, many more.”

Frank said Guidepost will begin its investigative work immediately. It is required to present a public report 30 days before the 2022 SBC Annual Meeting in Anaheim.

Near the end of the meeting, Slade spoke pastorally to the group reflecting on the process since messengers voted June 15 in Nashville.

“I’d like to really express my relief that this present challenge seems to be behind us,” he said. “Also, I want to express sorrow over the conduct that we have displayed as Southern Baptists over the course was absolutely a necessary deliberative process.”

Slade called on Southern Baptists to stop attacking one another and to “move down this road together.”

“Most importantly, it’s time to know for sure where we have fallen short on the question of sexual abuse within the Southern Baptist convention, so that we can correct any errors and move into the future as a convention, that’s the most safe for our most vulnerable members,” he said.

Floyd said, “I appreciate the statement of our Chairman Slade at the end of the meeting, including his call to come together now to serve Southern Baptists.”

Litton said, “Sexual abuse is antithetical to the Gospel of Christ. It has no place in the Southern Baptist Convention. And it is my prayer that all Southern Baptists will remain resolute in our commitment to preventing abuse, caring for survivors, and taking whatever steps are necessary to implement reforms.”

NASHVILLE (BP) — The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee is scheduled to hold a special session on Tuesday (Oct. 5) at 11:30 a.m. EDT, according to Roland Slade, EC chairman. The central issue of meeting is the finalization of an agreement with Guidepost Solutions and the matter of waiving of the EC’s attorney-client privilege as requested by messengers and the Sexual Abuse Task Force, appointed by SBC President Ed Litton.

At the SBC Annual Meeting in June, SBC messengers voted for the formation of the task force to oversee an investigation of the EC by a third party.

EC officers have been working with attorneys and EC senior staff to navigate the issue of waiving attorney-client privilege while still protecting the fiduciary responsibility entrusted to them.

Trustees voted on Sept. 21 to provide up to $1.6 million of Cooperative Funds for the third-party investigation.

In that meeting, a motion by EC trustee Jared Wellman to outright waive attorney client privilege failed by a vote of 50-22. A similar motion by Wellman was defeated 39-35 in the Sept. 28 special called meeting.

Since the meeting earlier this week, several state conventions and Southern Baptist pastors have called for the EC to waive attorney-client privilege and “follow the will of the messengers.”

Ronnie Floyd, president and CEO of the SBC EC, released an open letter to Southern Baptists on Friday (Oct. 1). In it he said the debate has not been about conducting the review, but, instead the EC has been, “…trying to wrestle with accomplishing this process in the right way as they weigh their duty as trustees to conduct the business in a manner which does not bring harm to either the entity they serve or the SBC they serve.:

The Oct. 5 meeting will be held virtually. It will be streamed at sbc.net/ec0921.

NASHVILLE (BP) – The effort to prevent sexual abuse and to care for its survivors within Southern Baptist churches continues three years after it began even as examinations of the SBC Executive Committee and the Convention have been approved by separate boards of trustees.

Caring Well is an umbrella term for the multi-faceted endeavor to respond properly to reports of abuse among Southern Baptist churches and entities. The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) and the Sexual Abuse Advisory Group (SAAG), which was established by then-SBC President J.D. Greear, have collaborated on the initiative since it started in 2018.

After three years, the attempt to help survivors, pastors and churches is ongoing through consultations and a variety of resources, the ERLC reported.

Meanwhile, the Executive Committee’s trustees voted Oct. 5 to waive attorney-client privilege for an independent, third-party investigation of the committee regarding its handling of such matters as sex abuse allegations and mistreatment of victims. The review, called for in an overwhelming vote by messengers to the SBC’s annual meeting in June, is underway, a spokesman for the SBC Sexual Abuse Task Force said Thursday (Oct. 7).

The ERLC’s trustees voted Sept. 15 to commit the entity to engage an outside organization for a three-year assessment of sex abuse in the Convention. The trustees also passed a motion to set aside $250,000 as an initial commitment for the audit. The actions came in response to a motion referred to the ERLC at this year’s SBC meeting. The ERLC is developing strategies for designing the assessment, which will require approval by the trustees, a staff member said.

“The scourge of sexual abuse continues to plague our society,” said Brent Leatherwood, the ERLC’s acting president, in written comments. “And we know our churches are not immune from it. It grieves the very heart of God. That is why we launched the Caring Well initiative.

“Through a challenge that churches can engage, curriculum that equips individuals and guides that promote best practices, we believe a solid foundation has been laid to make our churches safe from abuse and safe for survivors. But we know more must be done, and we are grateful messengers to the 2021 annual meeting emphatically said so.

“With that clear direction, we are committed to not only redoubling our Caring Well efforts, but partnering with churches in the years ahead to fully assess the scope of abuse so that we may understand it, confront it and end it. For far too long, survivors have been ignored and marginalized. Our hope is that by carrying out this work it will finally show the honor for their courage and bravery in coming forward that has been long overdue.”

The most recent year of Caring Well’s ministry, ERLC staff members said, has included conversations with pastors about handling abuse situations in churches, some from many years earlier. It also has consisted of seeking to provide care for abuse survivors, referring pastors and others to experts who can provide appropriate counsel and offering resources from the more than 170 that have been produced through the partnership of the ERLC and SAAG. Additional resources are planned, a staff member said.

Resources already produced by the SAAG and ERLC are largely available at https://caringwell.com and include:

The Caring Well Challenge, a year-long, eight-step effort to assist churches in being safe for survivors and in preventing abuse. Its elements include forming and training a Caring Well team to guide a church’s effort, equipping the congregation’s leaders and revising policies and procedures to prevent abuse. More than 1,000 churches have participated in the challenge.
“Becoming a Church That Cares Well for the Abused,” a free, 12-lesson, multimedia curriculum published by Lifeway Christian Resources. The curriculum, which can be accessed at churchcares.com, features training from long-time specialists in providing care for survivors. More than 4,100 churches have assigned it to staff and volunteers through Lifeway’s Ministry Grid.
The ERLC’s 2019 national conference, “Caring Well: Equipping the Church to Confront the Abuse Crisis.” More than 1,300 people attended, and many others watched by live stream. Twenty-six videos of the conference sessions are available at erlc.com/caringwell.
The winter 2020 issue of Light Magazine, which includes articles by abuse survivors and addresses such issues as providing ongoing care for survivors, recognizing signs of grooming and talking to children about sex abuse. It is available at erlc.com.

Resources produced by the ERLC and SAAG during their three-year partnership also have included a 52-page report from the advisory group to the SBC shortly before the 2019 meeting, an introductory guide to Caring Well, a hiring guide and articles during the COVID-19 pandemic about the increase in domestic and sexual abuse. SAAG made a presentation to SBC messengers in 2019 and co-hosted with the ERLC a panel discussion regarding sex abuse on the eve of that meeting.

The ERLC and SAAG began their collaboration when Greear, pastor of The Summit Church in the Raleigh-Durham, N.C., area, formed the fluid study group shortly after his first election as SBC president in 2018. In cooperation with the ERLC, the group received input from hundreds of people, including abuse survivors and their advocates, pastors, law enforcement officials, counselors, denominational leaders and lawyers.

Sex abuse already was a significant issue in the SBC, but an ongoing investigative series by the Houston Chronicle, joined by the San Antonio Express-News, that began in early 2019 revealed further some of the extent of the problem in the Convention and its churches. The initial articles in the series found 220 pastors and other leaders in Southern Baptist churches who had been convicted of or taken plea deals in sex crimes involving more than 700 victims. More abusers have been reported since then.