TENNESSEE
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Thursday, June 5, 2014
For more info: David Clohessy, 314-566-9790, SNAPclohessy@aol.com
Clergy abuse victims ask to speak at Baptist annual meeting
They also want independent review of clergy abuses & cover-ups
And group again urges SBC’s top official to apologize for insulting them
A victims group is asking the head of the Southern Baptist Convention for a chance to speak at the annual denominational meeting this month in Baltimore. They also want the SBC to hire an outside organization to study abuse in Baptist churches and an apology from the top SBC official.
Leaders of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, are writing to the Southern Baptist Convention’s Dr. Frank Page, wanting a chance to speak about preventing clergy sex crimes before thousands of Baptists who will gather in Baltimore on June 10-11.
SNAP has “25 years of experience working with clergy abuse survivors,” the group says, and so the organization “can help the SBC in shaping practices and policies that help prevent abuse and cover ups and foster more appropriate responses to abuse allegations.”
SNAP also wants the SBC Executive Committee to hire and consult with another organization, GRACE (Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment), for an independent expert review of the scandal involving a convicted child sex offender and Baptist employee John Langworthy of Mississippi and Texas.
“The way Baptist officials are responding and have historically responded to clergy sex abuse is and has been unproductive and does not make kids safer against clergy-predators,” said Amy Smith of Dallas, SNAP leader. “We hope that if they would just allow for an independent review of even one of the many reported cases of a cover-up, it might educate them on the dynamics of this problem and prod them and others to stronger action.”
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