By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer
ALEXANDRIA, La. (LBM) – Twenty-one months after messengers to the 2021 Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting called for the creation of a task force to oversee an independent review of the SBC Executive Committee about allegations of mishandling reports of sexual abuse, the Louisiana Baptists Sexual Abuse Response Council has published a web page with prevention resources and response information.
The page, found on LouisianaBaptists.org, offers phone numbers for reporting instances of abuse and to seek help for the victim; a proactive checklist to avert abuse; sexual abuse definitions and state statutes; how to protect minors; how to respond to an allegation; and resources for training and background screening.
“As I promised Louisiana Baptists during our past two annual meetings, this issue remains a priority,” Louisiana Baptist Executive Director Steve Horn told the Baptist Message. “The Sexual Abuse Resource Council I appointed has met diligently and has collected resources that will prayerfully assist churches and individuals in the prevention and response to sexual abuse. I ask Louisiana Baptists to join me in asking God to protect our churches from all forms of sexual abuse as we seek to maximize Gospel impact in our state.”
Ray Swift, chairman of the Sexual Abuse Response Council and also director of pastoral leadership, said while they are not an investigative body, they were tasked with the responsibility to provide much needed resources.
“Our pastors and churches start have a biblical mandate to pursue righteousness and justice,” Swift said. “As we have seen over the last several years, we have a sin problem within the Southern Baptist Convention. People are doing some evil things. As a Convention we certainly want to be available and be on the front line and to help in the area of sexual abuse prevention.
“We hope to provide a listening ear and a compassionate heart,” he continued. “As people call us, which we do anticipate could happen, we will listen and given them good biblical advice.”
For the past five months, Swift and other members of the Sexual Abuse Response Council have met to help guide work in sexual abuse awareness and reform. Swift, Administrative Assistant to the Executive Director Jeannie Saylor, Communications Associate (Stewardship and Cooperative Program) Stacy Morgan, Baptist Collegiate Ministry Team Director Mark Robinson, Adult Ministry Strategist Jeff Ingram, Administrative Assistant/Human Resource Specialist Jessica Fontenot and Women’s Missions and Ministry Strategist Christine Gill have served as committee members.
Those meetings produced the resource page that was posted on March 13.
Additionally, Louisiana Baptist leaders took other measures including:
–LBC staff members, including personnel from Tall Timbers Baptist Conference and Baptist Collegiate Ministries, were trained by Ministry Safe, a national ministry that equips churches and ministry programs to better protect children from sexual abuse, with particular emphasis on recognizing signs that abusers are “grooming” victims. Horn noted staff will continue ongoing online training to stay current on the matter.
–The administrative committee adopted a change in its personnel manual prior to the Executive Board meeting regarding the chain for reporting abuse within the staff. Instead of stopping with Louisiana Baptist Executive Director Steve Horn, employees are advised that they can report to the Executive Board president.
–Language was added to the LBC Personnel Handbook as to what steps to take regarding any allegations of reports of abuse within the organization.
–Horn and LBC President Reggie Bridges attended a meeting in Nashville, Tennessee, April 4, 2022, with other state convention leaders for an update from the Southern Baptist Convention Sexual Abuse Task Force.
To access the resource page, visit https://louisianabaptists.org/resources/sexual-abuse-responseresources/
