NASHVILLE \u2013<\/strong> The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has begun a federal investigation into the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) and its Sex Abuse Task Force Report.<\/span><\/p>\n The SBC\u2019s Executive Committee (EC) announced on Aug. 16 that it had received a subpoena to compel production of certain records related to the investigation\/report performed last year by Guidepost Solutions.<\/span><\/p>\n Although no other SBC entities had announced receipt of subpoenas at press time, the DOJ investigation is expected to include \u201cmultiple SBC entities,\u201d according to an Aug. 12 statement<\/a> signed by SBC president Bart Barber, as well as all Southern Baptist entity heads and seminary presidents, and the head of the WMU.<\/span><\/p>\n Pixabay.com image<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The DOJ has publicly declined to confirm or deny the subpoena or the fact of a federal investigation, as is its custom. The SBC EC did not expressly disclose the contents of the subpoena or focus of the investigation.<\/span><\/p>\n However, the SBC EC press release mentions \u201cpast mistakes related to sexual abuse\u201d and states that \u201ccurrent leaders across the SBC have demonstrated a firm conviction to address those issues of the past and are implementing measures to ensure they are never repeated in the future.\u201d The joint statement says that the SBC \u201crecently completed a fully transparent investigation\u201d that evidences their commitment to reforms.<\/span><\/p>\n Some observers view the federal investigation as an opportunity for additional justice for abuse survivors. But others predict that abuse survivors likely will not benefit much, if at all, from the DOJ inquiry. They suspect the current DOJ may have political motivations in the target and timing of this investigation and that a negative impact on the SBC\u2019s ministry funding and reputation might serve those political interests.<\/span><\/p>\n In their Aug. 12 statement, SBC leaders stated, \u201cIndividually and collectively each SBC entity is resolved to fully and completely cooperate with the investigation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n SBC leaders did not address whether the DOJ investigation into the SBC presents a threat to religious liberty, though some observers have expressed this concern. While churches are not immune from criminal investigations, constitutional safeguards prevent arbitrary intrusion into the internal affairs of churches and ministries.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Pathway<\/i> was able to confirm that SBC legal fees and expenses arising from the convention\u2019s response to the DOJ investigation will come out of EC reserves.<\/span><\/p>\n According to Baptist Press, the SBC \u201cspent nearly $2 million<\/a> on an independent investigation conducted by Guidepost Solutions, which submitted its report in May. Send Relief, the compassion ministry of the SBC, has committed $4 million<\/a> for the implementation of messenger-approved actions and to support survivors of sexual abuse.\u201d These figures did not include the fees paid to the new general counsel, Bradley Legal, for their work with Guidepost Solutions or their future work in the DOJ inquiry. <\/span><\/p>\n According to an Aug. 15 article<\/a> in the Family Research Council\u2019s news outlet, The Washington Stand<\/i>, a former DOJ official said the DOJ\u2019s investigation of the SBC is \u201cnovel\u201d and \u201cdubious.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The Washington Stand<\/i> reported, \u201c[The unnamed DOJ official] struggled to identify a federal statute that could be used to target a religious entity for such a capacious investigation. The investigation seems even more unusual, because sexual abuse investigations are typically handled by local prosecutors. \u2018The key question is: What civil or criminal statute is the DOJ using as the predicate for this investigation?\u2019 the official noted.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The DOJ official, while understanding most people\u2019s desire to see justice for those who have experienced sexual abuse, said that the DOJ has \u201cenormous hostility toward a religious organization like the Southern Baptist Convention.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI worry about this kind of thing from this DOJ,\u201d he told The Washington Stand<\/i>. \u201cThey do not take a fair-minded approach to the law. If it were up to [DOJ leadership], they would mandate Southern Baptist churches perform same-sex marriages or cease to exist.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The Washington Stand<\/i> questioned the political motivations of the Biden administration\u2019s DOJ. It noted that the investigation comes \u201camidst a flurry of actions opponents say are intended to punish the president\u2019s political enemies, including an unprecedented FBI raid on former President Donald Trump\u2019s home earlier in the week and the passage of a bill that critics contend will allow rogue IRS agents to target conservative Christian organizations.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The Washington Stand<\/i> and other media sources also noted that the DOJ, in 2018, similarly investigated the Roman Catholic dioceses of Pennsylvania in connection with sex abuse allegations.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe DOJ investigation fizzled in 2019. It ended with one arrest\u2014an 82-year-old defrocked priest,\u201d Bill Donohue of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights told The Washington Stand<\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n Unless the DOJ\u2019s time for getting alleged offenders has been restricted, Donohue told The Washington Stand<\/i>, \u201cthere is no statute of limitations on harassing and intimidating SBC. They are very good at that. Their actions can be costly in terms of legal fees and the reputation\/credibility of the SBC leadership.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n According to Baptist Press<\/a>, SBC media relations director Jon Wilke \u201cwas unable to provide specifics as to what triggered the DOJ\u2019s interest, what potential criminal activities are being examined or the scope and time frame of the investigation, citing it as an ongoing legal matter.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Though subpoenas are matters of public record, the SBC has not released the subpoena publicly. The Pathway<\/i> has not been able to confirm which DOJ district originated the investigation.<\/span><\/p>\n However, the Aug. 12 statement from SBC leaders implied the investigation\u2019s connection to a Guidepost Solutions report released this summer, which alleged that the EC mishandled sex abuse claims. \u201cOur commitment to cooperate with the Department of Justice,\u201d the statement reads, \u201cis born from our demonstrated commitment to transparently address the scourge of sexual abuse.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The statement also says, \u201cWhile we continue to grieve and lament past mistakes related to sexual abuse, current leaders across the SBC have demonstrated a firm conviction to address those issues of the past and are implementing measures to ensure they are never repeated in the future.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe fact that the SBC Executive Committee recently completed a fully transparent [Guidepost Solutions] investigation is evidence of this commitment,\u201d the statement added.<\/span><\/p>\n Amid the Guidepost investigation, and even beforehand, advocates for sex abuse survivors have called upon federal and state officials to investigate Southern Baptist conventions and entities.<\/span><\/p>\n For example, Christa Brown \u2013 a survivor and advocate who was named among others in a 2022 SBC resolution apologizing to survivors<\/a> \u2013 admitted on Twitter that she has often called upon the DOJ to investigate the SBC. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHallelujah,\u201d she tweeted on Aug. 12<\/a>, after hearing about the DOJ investigation. \u201cThree times, I\u2019ve publicly called for a federal investigation of the SBC & clergy sex abuse. 2018. 2021. 2022.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n In the same twitter thread, Brown added, \u201cIn 2022, immediately after Anaheim, I again called for a federal investigation (along with state attorney general investigations) because I was devastated by how alarmingly little was done in response to the Guidepost report.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n The Guidepost Solutions investigation \u2013 which, presumably, helped to incite the DOJ investigation of the SBC \u2013 was itself initiated by a motion<\/a> put forward at the 2021 SBC annual meeting in Nashville.<\/span><\/p>\n This 2021 motion came amid controversy over allegations made by former Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) President Russell Moore that various Southern Baptist leaders \u201cstonewall[ed]\u201d calls to address sexual abuse in the SBC. The allegations came in two letters<\/a> by Moore, from 2020 and 2021, that became public when they were leaked to news media ahead of the 2021 SBC annual meeting. Moore wrote both letters as the ERLC was itself under investigation by an EC study task force<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n In the first letter, Moore alleged that SBC EC members have created a culture where \u201ccountless children have been torn to shreds, where women have been raped and then \u2018broken down.\u2019\u201d \u00a0 <\/span>He alleged a group at the EC\u00a0 <\/span>used \u201cpsychological warfare,\u201d to pressure him\u00a0 <\/span>to \u201cprovide cover for racial bigotry and child molestation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n In the second letter, dated May 31, 2021 \u2013 the final day of Moore\u2019s tenure at the ERLC \u2013 he wrote of two meetings in 2019 among SBC leaders and described opposition to efforts to address sexual abuse in the SBC. then-EC President\/CEO Ronnie Floyd and then-EC Chairman Mike Stone, who was a candidate for SBC president in 2021, participated in the meetings.<\/span><\/p>\n In keeping with the motion approved at the 2021 SBC annual meeting, the EC initiated an investigation through Guidepost Solutions last fall. Also in response to the motion, the EC finally voted 44-31 to waive attorney-client privilege<\/a> regarding SBC EC confidential communications with its attorneys about the handling of abuse allegations from Jan. 1, 2000, to June 14, 2021.<\/span><\/p>\n This decision to waive privilege resulted in the resignations of multiple EC members and of the law firm Guenther, Jordan & Price, which had represented the SBC and EC since 1966. It also led to the hiring of a new law firm, Bradley Arant Boult Cummings \u2013 which, as previously reported in The Pathway<\/i><\/a>, has openly supported the LGBTQ+ agenda. Likewise, Guidepost Solutions has publicly supported<\/a> the LGBTQ+ agenda.<\/span><\/p>\n Amid the controversy resulting from these developments, the Missouri Baptist Convention created an alternative giving plan, known as \u201cPlan B,\u201d that allows churches to withhold CP funds from particular SBC entities, as requested. So far, more than 200 churches have opted for \u201cPlan B.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Guidepost Solutions released its 288-page report<\/a> on May 22 of this year, alleging that the SBC\u2019s EC showed a pattern of resistance to addressing abuse claims in SBC churches.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOur investigation revealed that, for many years, a few senior EC leaders, along with outside counsel, largely controlled the EC\u2019s response to these reports of abuse. They closely guarded information about abuse allegations and lawsuits, which were not shared with EC Trustees, and were singularly focused on avoiding liability for the SBC to the exclusion of other considerations,\u201d the report said.<\/span><\/p>\n In response to the report, Moore wrote in a May 22nd article in Christianity Today<\/i><\/a>, \u201c\u2026 [T]he investigation uncovers a reality far more evil and systemic than I imagined it could be.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n Moore, who was named Editor-in-Chief at Christianity Today<\/i><\/a> this August, added, \u201cI cannot help but wonder what else this can be called but a criminal conspiracy.\u201d He similarly referred to a \u201ccriminal conspiracy\u201d in a May 23rd interview<\/a> with National Public Radio.<\/span><\/p>\n The Guidepost report itself, however, alleged no criminal activity on the part of the EC or other SBC entities \u2013 raising further questions about what criminal activity or legal trespasses the DOJ may be investigating. Guidepost Solutions was founded by former federal prosecutors.<\/span><\/p>\n Guidepost did report, however, that SBC EC staff compiled what many news media outlets have called a \u201csecret list\u201d of abusers.<\/span><\/p>\n But, according to The Louisiana Baptist Message<\/i><\/a>, reporting June 24, the list was composed of a \u201ccollection of news reports \u2026 about men who already had been arrested and convicted \u2013 it was not a collection of accusations and allegations that had not been addressed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Guidepost wrote, \u201cThe most recent list prepared by the EC staff member contained the names of 703 abusers, with 409 believed to be SBC-affiliated at some point in time. Our investigative team reviewed the list and conducted significant research to assess whether any of the alleged abusers were still associated with an SBC church. Based on these efforts, it appears that nine (9) people remain in active ministry or connected to ministry. Two (2) of those people appear to be associated with an SBC church. The remaining seven (7) appear to be associated with churches that are not SBC-affiliated.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The Louisiana Baptist Message<\/i> continues: \u201cDespite concluding that only two of 703 people on the informal list were still \u2018in active ministry or connected to ministry\u2019 and \u2018appear to be associated with an SBC church,\u2019 Guidepost excoriated the SBC EC for not taking \u2018any action to ensure that the accused ministers were no longer in positions of power at SBC churches.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Based on the same numbers, demographer Lyman Stone at the Institute for Family Studies told The Daily Wire<\/i> in a June 14th article<\/a>, \u201cIf you wanted to argue that based on this report, executives of the SBC mismanaged the cases that were brought to them, then fine. But if you want to say this shows that [the SBC] is corrupt, hypocritical, and rife with sexual abuse \u2013 the report doesn\u2019t demonstrate that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Similarly, Southern Baptist ethicist Mark Coppenger \u2013 former president of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary \u2013 asked in a June 5th article<\/a> on his website, \u201cOut of 28 million members [2000-2020] and 47,000 churches, why so few manifest cases?\u201d He estimated a 0.00000786 incidence rate of abuse, based on the evidence provided. The evidence of the report, he claimed, hasn\u2019t proved more than this. <\/span><\/p>\n By contrast, when Coppenger raised similar questions from the floor of the 2022 SBC annual meeting in Anaheim, Calif., SBC Sexual Abuse Task Force chairman Bruce Frank alluded to evidence from multiple unnamed studies implying that abuse allegations listed in the Guidepost report are only the tip of the abuse iceberg in the SBC.<\/span><\/p>\n Southern Baptists received and acted on the Guidepost report at their 2022 annual meeting in Anaheim, also passing resolutions decrying sexual abuse<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mbcpathway.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/department-g1b191f279_1280-1024x1024.png\")
<\/p>\nWhat prompted the DOJ investigation?<\/span><\/h3>\n
Background: What prompted the Guidepost investigation?<\/span><\/h3>\n
Background: What did the Guidepost investigation find?<\/span><\/h3>\n