Dear friend,

Last year, Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) President J.D. Greear commissioned a Sexual Abuse Advisory Group to consider how Southern Baptists at every level can take discernable action to respond swiftly and compassionately to incidents of abuse, as well as to foster safe environments within churches and institutions.

Today, the Advisory Group released their much-anticipated report. As part of the report, the Advisory Group listened to and learned from hundreds of survivors of sexual abuse, church leaders, and national experts in this field. The report includes the personal words and testimonies of many of those survivors. This report aims to begin to educate Southern Baptist churches on the abuse crisis, equip Southern Baptist churches to care well for survivors, and to prepare Southern Baptist churches to prevent abuse.

The purpose of the report is to convey the key findings that have emerged from this effort in a way that reflects on the realities of the past, recognizes the challenges of the present, and resolves to embrace the opportunities of the future.

We encourage everyone to read the report in full. Pastors and church leaders will find a number of helpful resources for you and your church. Here are 10 takeaways from the report to get you started:

1. The report laments that sexual abuse and assault have been widespread in Southern Baptist churches.
2. The report gives voice to survivors of sexual abuse within Southern Baptist churches.
3. The report acknowledges that the crisis of abuse within Southern Baptist churches is neither a new problem nor a simple one.
4. The report acknowledges that failures in responding to sexual abuse have occurred in many ways.
5. The report tackles the difficult problem of so-called “consensual affairs” between pastors and congregants.
6. The report acknowledges the way the Southern Baptist doctrine of church autonomy has been misunderstood and misapplied.
7. The report acknowledges that some Southern Baptist churches have prioritized people over institutions.
8. The report points out that sexual abuse is not only a sin, but a crime.
9. The report reckons with the fact that the perpetrators of abuse within our churches are among us.
10. The report provides next steps for pastors and church leaders.

You can read the full report here.

The work of the Advisory Group on this report may have been completed, but our work is far from over. Just this past week, the ERLC, in partnership with the Sexual Abuse Advisory Group, launched two new initiatives to confront the abuse crisis:

• Becoming a Church That Cares Well for the Abused, a free curriculum to train church staff and leaders in responding well to instances of sexual, physical, or emotional abuse.

• The Caring Well Challenge, a 12-month, 8-step process to ensure that all of our churches are safe for survivors and safe from abuse.

We ask for your prayers as we continue to work on resources that will help us care well for survivors and protect against abuse.

Sincerely,

Phillip Bethancourt
Executive Vice President
Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission