#MeToo in spotlight as Southern Baptists meet

DALLAS — The Southern Baptist Convention opened its annual national meeting Tuesday in an anxious mood as the denomination’s all-male leadership grappled with the fallout of multiple sexual misconduct cases.

One order of business was a draft resolution co-signed by dozens of SBC leaders calling on the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S. to repudiate any rhetoric or behavior that dishonors women. The resolution denounces those who commit or cover up such actions, and urges congregations and ministers to abide by all laws mandating the reporting of sexual abuse and assault.

Two other proposed motions also urged steps to strengthen protections against sexual predators.

In a late addition to the program, the SBC announced that Vice President Mike Pence would address the meeting today. In Tuesday’s opening session, a delegate from Virginia, Garrett Kell, sought to cancel Pence’s address and replace it with a time of prayer, but the motion was defeated.

“Many of our minority brothers and sisters will be especially hurt by this invitation,” said Kell, who warned the SBC against associating with any particular administration holding power in Washington.

The agenda in Dallas did not include any reconsideration of the SBC’s doctrine of “complementarianism,” whiche spouses male leadership in the home and in the church and says a wife “is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband.”

However, the pastor elected Tuesday as the SBC’s new president — J.D. Greear — is among numerous SBC leaders saying the doctrine needs to be observed in away that’s respectful of women and encourages themto play an active role in church affairs.

In a recent video posted on Facebook, Greear said the church has hurt itself by excluding women from top leadership posts.

Complementarianism “is biblical and we need to honor that ... but at the same time recognize that God has gifted women with spiritual gifts,” he said. “We need to be as committed to raising them up in leadership and ministries as we are to our sons.”

Greear, 45, a mega church pastor from North Carolina who sometimes preaches in jeans and shirts with no sport coat, won about 69 percent of the votes in his election victory over former seminary president Ken Hemphill, 70.

Greear narrowly lost the election for president in 2016 and has been viewed by many Southern Baptists as the inevitable winner this time. Hemphill was nomi- nated by some veteran SBC leaderswho view him as less likely to propose potentially divisive changes.

As the two-day meeting began, about two dozen protesters gathered across the street from the convention center, drawing attention to abuse against women.

The pro testers called for the creation of a database identifying past ors accused of sexual abuse and misconduct. They also want pastors and seminarians to receive training on howto respond to sexual abuse and domestic violence.

“We are not against the Southern Baptist Convention, but we believe it can be better,” said Ashley Easter, a writer and speaker from Raleigh, North Carolina, who is an advocate for victims of abuse and anorganizer of the protest.

Paige Patterson, the central figure in the most prominent of the SBC’s #MeToo cases, had been scheduled to deliver the featured sermon at the national meeting. However, he withdrew from that role Friday, heeding a request from other SBC leaders.

Patterson was recently dismissed as president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Texas because of his response to two rape allegations made years apart by students. He also was accused of making improper remarks about a teenage girl’s body and contending that women who are in abusive relationships should almost always stay with their husbands.

SBC leaders say there are many more cases — adding up to a humiliating debacle for the 15.2 million-member denomination.

SOUTHWESTERN BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY