WASHINGTON (DC)
Sojourners Magazine
March 7, 2019
By Liam Adams
It’s the latest report amid #ChurchToo era: Hundreds of pastors and other leaders in Southern Baptist Convention churches sexually abused lay members and a number of them were still allowed to work at churches, even after being accused or convicted. These revelations, most recently documented by the Houston Chronicle and San-Antonio Express-News, have been known by those within the SBC for a while now.
For over a decade, activists have pushed for the creation of a database in the SBC that would list credibly accused predators. They argue that, using such a database, a church’s hiring committee could check candidates against the list, thus preventing some of the shuffling of predators that the SBC and other denominations have seen. The SBC has yet to adopt the idea, however, arguing they can’t exercise authority over local, autonomous churches and make them report abuse. Survivors and activists say that shouldn’t stop the SBC from trying.
After being intensely scrutinized in the wake of allegations of sexual abuse against SBC pastors over the past year, some SBC leaders are vocalizing their hope for change in the convention. Among these hopes is the implementation a database, which President J.D. Greear emphasized in his “10 calls to action” last month.
As many in the SBC eagerly await a decision on a database, Sojourners sought to better understand how databases for other denominations work and more importantly, the impact they have.
Years after being abused by a rabbi at the yeshiva he was attending, Eric Aiken looked up his abuser online and found a litany of other cases connected to the rabbi. He also stumbled upon reports of other Orthodox Jewish rabbis abusing children.
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