- Southern Baptist Convention leaders respond to historic report on decades of mishandling abuse
- SBC Executive Committee staff intend to publish list of ministers accused of misconduct previously secretly kept
Southern Baptist Convention leaders intend to publish a list of ministers accused of sexual misconduct that former staff secretly maintained, and rebuked one of their own Tuesday for antagonism toward abuse survivors.
The statement and decision about the list were immediate actions from the SBC Executive Committee following the release of a historic report on Sunday about how SBC leaders failed to address abuse.
During the meeting Tuesday morning, executive committee staff and members approved a statement condemning a letter that former executive committee employee August “Augie” Boto sent survivor Christa Brown in 2006 that said, “continued discourse between us [the executive committee and survivor advocates] will not be positive or fruitful.”
Historic report:‘Ignored, disbelieved’: Southern Baptist Convention sexual abuse report details cover up, decades of inaction
Guidepost key takeaways:What the Southern Baptist Convention sexual abuse report says about its leaders and other key findings
Brown said Tuesday she is grateful for the committee’s “repudiation of that 2006 letter from Augie Boto.”
“It is one very small step, and so much more is needed, but I hope that this may be the start of a new era in how the EC relates to SBC clergy sex abuse survivors,” Brown said in a statement.
The executive committee manages denomination business when the full convention isn’t in session during the SBC annual meeting. It’s comprised of about 30 staff and an 86-member board of elected representatives.
That 2006 letter from Boto to Brown symbolizes a long-lasting, systemic hostility towards survivors exposed in Sunday’s report from Guidepost Solutions.
“The SBC Executive Committee rejects this sentiment in its entirety and seeks to publicly repent for its failure to rectify this position and wholeheartedly listen to survivors,” read the executive committee’s statement on Tuesday.
The statement, drafted by executive committee staff and attorneys, was endorsed by 58 executive committee members who voted for it. Two members abstained from voting and the eight remaining executive committee members were not present at the meeting. Other executive committee member seats are currently vacant.
Boto’s message to Brown in 2006 is one example of many in which Boto — who served successively as executive committee vice president for convention policy, then general counsel and then interim president/CEO — ignored reports of abuse, fought proposals for policy reform, and helped maintain a secret list of ministers accused of sexual misconduct.
The list had 703 names on it at one point, 400-plus of whom are SBC affiliated and at least nine still active in ministry, according to Guidepost. That list will become public, executive committee staff and lawyers announced Tuesday.
Executive committee staff have already decided to publish the list and will not need members’ approval. It’s unknown when they will approve it.
Also, executive committee staff and attorneys are exploring if they can revoke Boto’s retirement benefits. Boto could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.
In addition to Boto, Guidepost’s report criticized other former executive committee staff, SBC elected leaders, and its longtime law firm for enabling a culture of inaction on abuse between January 2000 to June 2021.
“I would also just point out that Augie Boto did not act alone — in this & so many other things,” Brown’s statement on Tuesday said. “Those other offices bear some responsibility as well.”
The nearly 300-page report has captured national headlines, and shook leaders within the convention, the nation’s largest Protestant denomination with more than 13 million members.
The Nashville-based SBC’s annual meeting is scheduled for June and delegates will likely vote on measures related to the report and elect a new SBC president.
On Monday, all three announced nominees for SBC president expressed sadness at Guidepost’s findings. Heads of major SBC affiliated agencies, including presidents of Lifeway, the North American Mission Board, Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, and three seminaries, expressed similar sentiments.
Abuse survivor David Pittman commented on the report Monday after taking time to read and process it. “I’m glad that an organization was hired to consolidate all of the information that we as survivors have been giving the southern Baptist convention for thirty years,” Pittman said in an interview.
“I think the weight of seeing all of it in one place, minus no details, I think is reason why it is impactful the way it is,” Pittman said.
Liam Adams covers religion for The Tennessean. Reach him at [email protected] or on Twitter @liamsadams.
