Southern Baptists set aside $9.5M for sex-abuse scandal
Oakland County has 27 affiliated churches
When Oakland County residents head to the Southern Baptist Conference meeting later this month, they’ll vote on a recommendation to set aside $9.5 million as part of a sex-abuse response. That’s a good start at regaining trust, according to the Rev. Tim Patterson, executive director of the Plymouth-based Baptist Southern Convention of Michigan staff.
It’s essential to put in place protections, “making it very public that the DNA of an organization has at its heart a militant attitude against any kind of predatory behavior,” he told The Oakland Press. “Our policies should scream that ‘you don’t want to mess with my family.’”
Baptist churches operate independently, but team up as part of the conference to share the cost of church planting, seminary training, disaster response and other missions. Cooperative efforts are coordinated by an 86-member executive committee.
Last month, the release of an independent investigation into sex-abuse allegations ordered by the executive committee showed hundreds of sex-abuse cases, some dating back to the 1990s, related to various member churches. A secret list compiled by the conference’s staff prior to the report was made public, showing more than 500 such incidents, including one in Lake Orion.
The $9.5 million is intended to be an across-theboard allocation to identify and institute changes in how the executive committee, its staff and member churches respond to reports. The money will also be used to implement awareness and reporting training, and create an Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force, as well as a background-check program, according to a report Wednesday in the Baptist Press.
Other recommendations from the independent investigating firm, Guidepost Solutions, include creating a ministry database to track pastors with sexualpredator records, so they don’t simply move to another member church; and to fund survivor support and memorials.
Some of the money would help individual churches hire independent investigators to vet sex-abuse allegations.
Despite some on the executive committee expressing concerns that the scandal will bankrupt the Southern Baptists, each of the proposed recommended measures passed with more than 80 percent of the votes.
The resolutions are nonbinding, with votes expected later this month at the annual convention of church delegates, called messengers, when they convene in Anaheim June 12 through 15. Based on the results of the messengers’ vote, the executive committee will finalize the annual budget at a meeting this fall.
Michigan has 302 churches affiliated with the Southern Baptists, of which 27 are in Oakland County. All can be found in The Oakland Press’ searchable online database: https://datawrapper.dwcdn. net/52sHV/2.