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	Baptists Post Offender List By Mark Agee Fort Worth Star-Telegram [Texas] June 7, 2007 http://www.star-telegram.com/state_news/story/128245.html The Baptist General Convention of Texas has begun posting on its Web site the names of convicted sex offenders who've worked as Baptist ministers. The stated goal is to help churches prevent abuse, but critics say it's not enough. A section of the organization's site labeled "Broken Trust" has nine names and links to information on the state's sex offender registry. The section also has information on how to conduct interviews and background checks. "We've found that our church members and churches didn't know what a big problem this is," said Emily Prevost, a convention employee who worked on the project. "They don't know how to access information. We decided to be more proactive and put more information in front of them." The Dallas-based organization doesn't hire or fire ministers; that is done by the 5,600 independent member churches, Prevost said. "We just want them to know that this is a grave and difficult issue that they need to face," she said. Teaching church officials how to weed out predators from ministers, staff and volunteers is a priority, she said. Efforts began in 2000 The Baptist group began keeping track of reports of "sexual misconduct" in 2000, Prevost said. That includes not only child abuse but also adultery, homosexuality and becoming "addicted to pornography," according to a news release. The convention is also lowering the standard for being added to that list, which used to be "substantial evidence" of inappropriate behavior. Now ministers will be added if church officials are simply convinced that an incident happened, Prevost said. "We want to have a higher ethical standard for pastors," she said. The list is only available to official church officers who send a notarized form to the convention, according to the Web site. Then, officials will only confirm that a name is on the list but cannot say what the minister was accused of. A call for openness Christa Brown of Austin, the Baptist coordinator for the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, says posting a list of sex offenders is a small step that the convention is taking too much credit for. "It's not nearly enough," said Brown. "This isn't exactly a lunar landing. I see it as mostly window dressing." Brown said that historically the organization has made it difficult for abuse to be reported and is slow to act afterward. Also, the nine people named on the site are only those who have been convicted; Brown said other reported offenders move on to other churches. The rest of the list -- which Prevost says has about 100 names -- remains secret. "My perpetrator was never convicted, so he's not on the site," Brown said. "How many others aren't? This is information that everyone in a Baptist pew needs to know." Mark Agee, 817-685-3821: rmagee@star-telegram.com
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