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NASHVILLE (RNS) In response to allegations it mismanaged allegations of abuse in the past, the Southern Baptist Conventions Executive Committee announced on June 11 that it had retained the services of a company to carry out an independent review of its processes, according to a statement from Ronnie Floyd, Chairman of the Executive Committee.
Guidepost Solutions’ review comes in response to allegations by Russell Moore, until recently chairman of the SBCs Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, that Floyd and Georgian Pastor Mike Stone tried to delay attempts to deal with the abuse and to silence survivors of abuse.
Guidepost Solutions is a global leader in surveillance, compliance, sensitive investigations and risk management solutions and has extensive experience providing advice and guidance to religious communities in this area, the statement said.
In addition to reviewing Moores’ allegations, Guidepost will review and improve the training provided to executive committee staff and directors to respond to questions of abuse.
SBC’s executive committee is committed to providing full support and transparency to Guidepost Solutions, including making people available for interviews and providing relevant documentation, the statement also said.
Some prominent members of the SBC were concerned that the executive committee review was not a full investigation. Dwight McKissic, senior pastor at Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington, questioned a review that would be anything less than an independent investigation launched by the convention, not the executive committee.
Attorney-at-law Rachael Denhollander, who has in the past criticized SBC officials’ treatment of alleged victims of sexual abuse, called Guidepost Solutions a highly qualified company capable of reviewing the actions of the executive committee and advising them. SBC executives.
The question is whether the executive committee allows them to do their jobs, said Denhollander, a former gymnast who was the first to accuse former US gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar of abuse.
Denhollander called on the SBC executive committee to expand Guidepost’s mandate to include a full written report and review of all paid staff and elected officials.
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If they get those two things, Guidepost can do their job, she said.
Denhollander slammed SBC leaders at a Caring Well 2019 conference on responding to abuse, which resulted in those leaders taking a step back. In leaked excerpts from meetings with Moore, then head of the SBCs Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, Floyd said he doesn’t care what survivors may say.
I’m not worried about it, we hear it said in audio clips, posted by a pastor at College Station who is a former ERLC staff member. I think at the base. I just want to preserve the base.
Floyd said the audio clips misrepresent his response to abuse.
Moore, who recently resigned after years of controversy, cited the retreat of abuse and the RTRC’s work on race in a letter to the Trustees of the ERLC before his resignation. This letter was recently published by Religion News Service.
Rolland Slade, chairman of the executive committee, has expressed support for an independent investigation into the Moores allegations. Two Southern Baptist pastors have announced their intention to offer an independent investigation at the SBC’s annual meeting in Nashville, which is expected to attract more than 16,000 attendees.
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