The future of SBC abuse reform is now in the hands of denominational committee

[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnINDIANAPOLIS (RNS) — Leaders of a volunteer task force charged with implementing abuse reforms in the nation’s largest Protestant denomination say they were given an impossible task.In the end, the task proved too much.
“We took this work as far as we were allowed to take it,” North Carolina Baptist pastor Josh Wester, chair of the Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force, told the more than 10,800 local church representatives, known as messengers, gathered Tuesday (June 11) at the Indiana Convention Center for the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting.
Instead, the SBC’s Nashville-based Executive Committee will now have the task of implementing those reforms.
The task force was charged two years ago with creating resources to help churches deal with abuse, publishing a database of abusive pastors and finding permanent funding and long-term plans for abuse reforms. While the task force did unveil a new “Essentials” training resource for churches, the other two tasks remain incomplete.
Wester said the task force has vetted more than 100 names of abusers but has not been able to publish them on an online “Ministry Check” database of abusers, largely due to concerns about insurance and finances.
Pastor Josh Wester, chair of the Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force, addresses the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, June 11, 2024. (RNS Photo/AJ Mast)
“I wish that standing before you today, I could say that the Ministry Check website is now online,” Wester told the messen …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]