Brett Barber-SBC President
You may recall that 5 weeks ago it was reported that the US Department of Justice is investigating the Southern Baptist Convention for possible crimes. This was spurred on in part because of the SBC report on the coverup of sexual abuse among leaders in the denomination.
I have, what is, in my opinion some stunning news on what I believe to be the continuing coverup of sexual abuse within SBC churches. More on that in just a minute.
First I would like to give you a brief recent history of the SBC’s actions regarding sexual abuse and the coverup of abuse within their denomination. You may recall that in 2019 then SBC President J.D. Greear called for “sweeping changes to prevent sexual abuse.” He even shed some tears to show how deeply he felt about this issue.
Below is a portion of Greear’s speech which he delivered at the SBC convention in 2019. You will notice that he specifically called out what he believed were ten particularly problematic churches that he wanted a work group to examine to see whether theses churches measured up to the SBC standards regarding sexual abuse.
Of these ten churches, only one has been judged to not meet standards. That church, Cathedral of Faith, withdrew from the SBC in February 2019 due to negative exposure received in a series of articles published in the Houston Chronicles and San Antonio Express-News. About one year after the Cathedral of Faith withdrew the SBC said they should be dis-fellowshipped!
To date there has been only one church of the ten that the jury was still out on – that church being Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville, KY. The Senior Pastor of that church is C.J. Mahaney. Also on staff is Bob Kauflin, the well known music-man from Sovereign Grace.
Today I received news from a trusted source (who shall remain anonymous) that the SBC Credentials Committee “believes Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville is in friendly cooperation with the Southern Baptist beliefs about sexual abuse.”
I was not shocked, but I was very disappointed in the decision made by the Credentials Committee. It is my belief that this decision seriously undermines any hope sexual abuse survivors and their supporters had for the SBC to seriously deal with this gross sin within their ranks.
After all, who can forget the landmark article authored by Tiffany Stanley and published in the Washingtonian concerning the sexual abuse and coverup within the denomination led by C.J. Mahaney?
Or who can forget the clarion call by Rachael Denhollander’s three articles posted in Facebook? As Rachael said in her article, “The survivors are still here. The alleged dynamics are still here. The leaders are still here. This remains a relevant issue and will remain a relevant issue until an investigation is done and the answers are made public.”
I agreed with Rachael’s statement then, and I agree with it now. Sovereign Grace Churches leadership continue on as if nothing ever happened and the ruling by the SBC Credentials Committee only enables Sovereign Grace Churches to continue in their denial. It’s a total travesty!
At the last SBC gathering they elected Bart Barber to the presidency of their denomination. Barber has made some recommendations with the hope that sexual abuse will be dealt with in his denomination.
One thing Barber did was establish the Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force (ARITF). This task force “retained Rachael Denhollander, an attorney specializing in sexual abuse dynamics.” Retained means the SBC is paying Rachael. In my opinion Rachael needs to speak up once again for the survivors of sexual abuse suffered while attending Sovereign Grace Churches. The SBC has shown their true colors concerning sexual abuse (in case you had any doubts). I call on Rachael Denhollander to tell the SBC she can no longer work for them. To continue to work for the SBC is, in my opinion, to accept blood money.
Look closely at the pic of Greear “crying” … no tears!
At its annual meeting in 2013, the SBC adopted a resolution “On Sexual Abuse of Children”. Those who drafted the resolution specifically had Al Mohler and C.J. Mahaney in mind when they wrote:
“We encourage all denominational leaders and employees of the Southern Baptist Convention to utilize the highest sense of discernment in affiliating with groups and or individuals that possess questionable policies and practices in protecting our children from criminal abuse”
https://www.sbc.net/resource-library/resolutions/on-sexual-abuse-of-children/
Shortly after that, Mahaney moved to Louisville (where Mohler resides as President, Southern Seminary), set up a new church, and joined the SBC! The beat goes on.
Every time I read more about the utter inability of the SBC to deal with sex abuse in their midst, I get a pit in my stomach. So, now SGC Louisville, Mahaney’s church, is considered in friendly cooperation with the SBC? How despicable. Greear’s pretend tears mean nothing. He’s out of the picture anyway, dancing with Bryan Loritts.
And now Rachel Denhollander is being paid by the very entity which supports and protects SBC Louisville. SGC Louisville also give money to the SBC, money that pays Rachel. This is the group that Rachel spoke out against.
I’m so glad I walked away from the SBC.Lots more have left with me.
I’m very tired so perhaps I should shut up now and go to bed and think more about this in the AM.
As usual, great post-Todd. Keep holding their feet to the fire.
Todd, thank you for all the hard work you have done exposing the SBC and the retroactive discipline nonsense. I keep telling myself that “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, saith the Lord.” That being said, I wish I could help the karma along. I keep thinking that things can’t get worse, and they do.
From one old-timer to another, thanks!
Old Timer,
Glad you mentioned Karma.
She also has a sister named Comeuppance.
They are relentless, they restore balance to the Universe.
And what will Bart Barber do about this?
They refuse. (They are able but they decisively refuse.)
They never get to accountability for their BFFs, and repentance (which requires reparations or the fruit of repentance, Luke & Acts 3.8) for predators.
When they tell you who they are the first time, believe them. (Maya Angelou)
So, shaking dust off sandals and leaving that village behind forever for a better place with:
1. Ruth Ben-ghiat’s “Strongmen”
2. Beth Allison Barr’s “The Making of Biblical Womanhood”
3. Kristin Kobes Du Mez’s “Jesus and John Wayne”
4. Daily engagement at TWW.
5. God’s Word, full of wisdom and warnings about false shepherds’ shenanigans.
6. Goodbye Scribes, Pharisees, and executioners of Jesus.
7. Hello, Creator God our Heavenly Father, Son Jesus, God’s Holy Spirit, and followers of Jesus who walk the talk directly, NO MIDDLEMAN, neither trolls to pay nor celebrities to extol.
When the predator-BFFs get a celebrity victim spokesperson on the payroll, they figure they’ve got a win. There’s some truth to that.
Every victim spokesperson faces forks in the road: go with the money or maintain personal integrity.
Sell your story, but sell your soul? Choices.
Luke & Acts 3.8 clarify: there is NO repentance without accountability and reparations (“fruit of repentance” in actions not words). Any org or individual that doesn’t follow through with appropriate actions is a sham, along with what becomes of the poster child of not victims but of predators and their BFFs.
The celebrity victim spokesperson got personal fame and fortune. What about the other non-celebrity victims with predators still in place and predators still in play?
Tom Parker,
Nothing, just like the rest of the leadership. Oh, maybe he will pretend to cry. They like to do that, don’t they?
Muff Potter,
🙂
Crying on cue.
Like an actor on stage. (What’s the Koine Greek word for that?)
But these days, do you expect anything else from a Mighty ManaGAWD?
HUMBLY, of course.
Like an actor on stage.
(Again, anyone remember the Koine Greek word for that?)
Touch Not Mine Anointed, Remember.
Is there an NDA gag order to go with that Hush Money?
Do you think Rachel will resign? I will be very disappointment if she does not.
So what’s in it for Denhollander?
Keep us apprised, you are a top-notch investigative journalist.
Dee, remember when I called you from Louisville during TFG 2018, where I was protesting? I called because Mickey Connolly had been sent out from the YUM! Center to tell me that Sovereign Grace wasn’t going to do anything. Do you remember what I said it was like? It was like being visited by the Boston Mafia. I can’t even forget that. It was a creepy feeling. Why am I reminded of this today?
Todd, thanks for your reporting.
A point of information – is Rachael an attorney, or is she a law-school graduate? I am not trying to quibble of details, but if memory serves me correctly, she attended a non-ABA school in California and is ineligible for licensure outside the Golden State. To label her an attorney, as the SBC announcement did, is to inflate her credentials and thereby “use” her to quiet their critics.
If I am wrong, then overlook this comment. But if the SBC is good at anything, it is credential and degree inflation.
Burwell Stark,
You are correct. She went to a homeschool law school and was able to take the bar in California. I never knew one could do a homeschool law degree. My husband has assured me that there is not homeschool MD degree. However, no other state recognizes her degree. She cannot legally represent anyone except, I assume if the case was tried in California. Since the SBC has churches in California, maybe they do a workaround? Who knows. I would assume that the SBC has other more traditionally trained lawyers.
Burwell Stark,
It would be helpful if someone made this observation on other social media sites.
Muslin, fka Dee Holmes,
There is nothing we can do with the SBC as a denomination. I spoke with someone this week and said I thought the SBC will split in the future. As for the Mafia, if it fits, speak it. The DOJ is sure interested.
Muff Potter,
Read Burwell Stark’s comment under yours.
In defense of Rachael, don’t be so quick to dismiss her law credentials as I looked up California’s bar exam pass rate
The California Bar exam shows the lowest passing rate in the country. In 2017, the State Bar of California designed the exam to include a performance test to determine and rate the test taker’s ability to handle a client’s legal challenges, five essay questions, and the standardized bar test from the National Conference of Bar Examiners.
She must be smart or that school must be pretty good or both. Also in most states to practice in that state if I am correct, you must take that’s states’s bar exam.
It was common even in the 1900’s for many to study on their own and take the bar exam in their state. Abraham Lincoln, an outstanding lawyer was self taught among many others.
Seeing the lawyers for the Amber Heard / Johnny Depp trial, I’ll take Rachael.
California doesn’t have as many requirements to be able to sit the state bar, unlike any other state. Denhollander went to an online law school which may or may not have been accredited by the CA state bar. If not accredited, then she would have had to sit the baby bar, an exam which confirms after your first year study that you’re learning. The pass rate for the baby bar in June was 19.6%. (By comparison, the July 2021 CA full bar pass rate was 52%.)
She passed the bar in California, which means she’s very good. She also has kept up her bar license, so she us qualified to practice law in California. She could be admitted pro hac vice in other states if she has a local attorney practicing with her and if the judge accepts.
Along those same lines, a certain Kim Kardashian passed the baby bar last December. Unlike Rachel Denhollander, Kardashian did the “four years study in a California law office” route to qualify to sit the baby bar. I don’t know how many more years she has to do to take the full bar. But like I said, California allows for multiple entry routes into the practice of law in the state. And as someone who graduated from a regular ABA accredited law school, it takes a LOT to pass the bar outside of traditional law school. I’m impressed, actually.
I’ve heard of getting a law degree by “Reading the Law” (serving a multi-year apprenticeship to a practicing lawyer), but never a Law Homeschool. Sounds like something debate-happy Christian Homeschoolers would try – Twirl Those Pens!
This is called “Reading the Law”, and usually involves a working apprenticeship to a practicing lawyer.
SBC doesn’t need to be exonerating any minister/church under its umbrella until DOJ has exonerated them. I suspect DOJ will find a denominational system from top-down that failed hundreds (thousands?) of sex abuse victims/survivors.
I hope so. But I am expecting a “move along, nothing to see here” result.
dee,
This is not surprising.
That shipped sailed (grand exposure of a grand failure of a not-so-grand org) when the Houston Chronicle published their “Abuse of Faith” series.
The fact that SBCers don’t care says everything about the moral fiber of the org and its people.
Spelling bees, science projects, and now add to that law reading.
Nothing wrong with robust lower school homeschooling, a school choice that can make sense for some.
But the higher education goes, the more professional cohort review, collaborative colleagues, and legitimate credentials matter.
Thx for sharing. Reframes the picture. Much appreciated.
However, working for an org which covers for predators, while supposedly advocating for victims, is unimpressive, at the very least.
Muslin, fka Dee Holmes, ChuckP,
Thank you for the clarification. I still maintain the SBC is intenionally overstating RD’s qualifications for their own ends.
Their own ends seems to be to say they are proactive about sex abuse predators on their watch while DOING NOTHING.
Talk. No walk.
While Denhollander’s intentions are surely noble, in some of her public appearances, she is also accompanied by her children on stage. Children are a blessing. However, as a young mom, she appears to have her hands full, with children, her book publishing career, as a spokesperson, lawyering, wife of a pastor, etc. Lots going on professionally and personally. All wonderful endeavors, but many endeavors at the same time.
Just confronting abuse in a major denomination is HUGE, and a major battle.
They’re “best” at passing those offering plates. Where do you think the funding for the seminaries and the pastors’ mansions comes from?
Ava Aaronson,
Sorry, this is totally tangential, just a trigger of a pet peeve.
“Pastor’s wife” is not a job description.
Unless she is getting paid a salary by the church, her “responsibilities” should be no more and no less than any other average church member. And have no bearing on whether or not she can hold down a career outside the home.
And while, yes, priorities change when young children enter the picture, with enough support from the father of said children and other (paid or otherwise) caregivers, it IS possible for a woman to have a life apart from her children. Especially when there is overlap between so many of the job descriptions like “lawyering,” “abuse advocate,” and “public speaker.”
Not saying that you’re saying otherwise. Just wanting (as a mother of young children who is fed up with patriarchy masquerading as complementarianism in churches) to make this explicit.
Rachel’s “issues” has been centered on SGC. I wonder if she will force change through SBC that will finally hold SGC/Mahaney and team accountable.
SBC actions do put Rachel in a conflict. It would have been encouraging to see a “Boz Tchividjian” clean house. Instead it falls back to Racial.
If I were in SGC leadership I’d be thinking “uh oh” … moreover I hope Rachel delivers.
We’ll see
Wild Honey,
Agree.
How to say that in this case, the well-intentioned spokesperson appears to be over engaged in a variety of directions, thus not doing so well in any or maybe at least in all directions.
In any case, as noted, just dealing with the SBC’s issues with CSA alone is a megaproject, hardly a problem resolved by one well-intentioned nationally known highly credentialed spokesperson.
From the org’s POV, perhaps that is exactly the bandaid they want: a good look that accomplishes nothing for the cause except the Good Look.
As this post indicates, not everyone is fooled by the Good Look.
Todd and Dee you are people of integrity. Somehow Dr. Mohler’s defending C.J. Mahaney didn’t make the SBC Sexual abuse task force report. Hmmm.
Rachael Denhollander seems to just have decided not to talk about C.J. any longer though nothing has happened. Very curious.
Humply? the guy who was so humble he wrote a book about how humble he was. And called himself the “Apostle”. Gees
You mean “Pope” Mohler … he’s untouchable within SBC.
That’s HEAD Apostle of the People of Destiny!
With flunkies in livery blowing long trumpets before him to announce how HUMBLE he is!
It’s called a “Twofer”.
Now the church gets a second untitled co-pastor for FREE!
Does anyone know who is on the SBC Credentials Committee? I couldn’t find a list of current members on a quick Google search.
Max,
And remember, good old “Al” is “watching” who you vote for!
Just like the referndum in the Donblas.
Southern Baptists missed an opportunity to send him packing in 1993 when he became President at SBTS. It was clear then that he was launching a New Calvinist rebellion against millions of non-Calvinist Southern Baptists. The window was open then to send him packing but the mainline did nothing to stop him. In the ensuing years, they have allowed him to progressively gain power – the New Calvinists are now firmly in control of all SBC entities. Dr. Al doesn’t have to watch who I vote for … after 70+ years as a Southern Baptist, I joined the Done ranks … done with SBC, but not done with Jesus.
Yeah, I agree, that’s not so good. But she is a qualified attorney, at least according to the state of California, and its bar exam is legendary for its toughness.
I assume that was a typo, but I’ll stop there.
I have provided evidence to three separate Credentials Committees for the Southern Baptist Convention proving a conspiracy to cover up the sexual abuse of children by C.J. Mahaney and other pastors on his staff (e.g. Gary Ricucci, Bob Kauflin, Jeff Purswell). Most recently in February 2022. On Tuesday (after 7 mos.) they finally responded. Here is what they said in part.
“Thank you for your resubmission to the Credentials Committee regarding your concern that Sovereign Grace Church, Louisville, Kentucky, may not be in friendly cooperation with the Southern Baptist Convention. … As you know, our committee’s assignment is to deal with the question of whether a church is in friendly cooperation with the Southern Baptist Convention. … Your resubmission has been reviewed by our committee. Based upon the information you provided and other information available to us, our committee declines further consideration of Sovereign Grace Church at his time.”
They declined “further consideration” because they have concluded C.J. and the pastors are in “friendly cooperation” with SBC beliefs regarding sexual abuse. This despite the fact that C.J., Bob, Jeff, and Gary (an alleged abuser) have called multiple victims liars who made up their stories (contra all the evidence) and also called Rachael Denhollander a false witness. They won’t even listen to her and she has now been hired as a lawyer by the SBC to advise them on sexual abuse policy, etc. I hope she is confronting the Credentials Committee in the strongest terms possible.
There are some good people in the SBC working for change but a majority on the Credentials Committee have committed a grave travesty of justice and corruption does exist.
It may take a couple years, but I hope the Department of Justice gets to the bottom of things. You cannot lie to FBI agents without committing a federal crime punishable up to five years in prison.
I will continue work with the SBC so that “at this time” becomes “it is time.” Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville needs to be removed from the SBC.
Brent Detwiler,
I have listened to preachers for decades go on and on about the “decline” of “our country” “morally”, and listen to them rage against all the “secular humanists/liberals/atheist/(add for favorite whipping boy). However, as the web, and blogs like TWW have shown, I believe “Evangelicalism/fundamentalism” greatest “enemy” is itself…. Until “the church” starts applying the same moral standards that it rages about in their “enemies”, to itself, it will continue to “decline” in “relevance”…. Although, I wonder if it really had as much influence as it thinks in ages go by..
Source: https://41jmzr10f8zc229tzr2xml7e-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/2022-SBC-Annual.pdf
page 514
CREDENTIALS COMMITTEE Linda Cooper, Chair
Committee Meetings: TBD Standard term of service – 3 years
Ex Officio Members
Executive Committee Chairman: Jared Wellman, 4142 Faudree Rd., Odessa, TX 79765
Registration Secretary: Don Currence, 1400 W Jackson St., Ozark, MO 92019
Term Expiring 2023
Linda Cooper, 168 Red Haven Ct., Bowling Green, KY 42103
George T. Russ, 97 Woodland Dr., Kings Park, NY 11754
Term Expiring 2024
Jonathan Sams, 3151 Stillhouse Creek Dr., Unit 13203, Atlanta, GA 30339
James (Jim) W. Averett, 3565 Shandwick Pl., Birmingham, AL 35242
Meagan N. Stedman, 4060 Lipsey St., Apt 11, New Orleans, LA 70126
Term Expiring 2025
Carolyn J. Fountain, 119 Florio Ct., Monroe, LA 71203
Jill R. Rayburn, 1001 Botany Rd., Greenville, SC 29615
Hat tip to Brent Detwiler for this information.
Todd Wilhelm,
Thanks Todd … and Brent. No red flags at first glance.
I should say committee member names don’t raise any red flags … but their action (or inaction) in regard to C.J. Mahaney is concerning.
“We encourage all denominational leaders and employees of the Southern Baptist Convention to utilize the highest sense of discernment in affiliating with groups and or individuals that possess questionable policies and practices in protecting our children from criminal abuse”
https://www.sbc.net/resource-library/resolutions/on-sexual-abuse-of-children/
Plenty of brilliance passing bar exams, who are then up to little or no good with all of their credentials. The bar is not the real test. What one does thereafter is.
How often do credentials translate into stalwart leadership? Clearly not often enough amongst our highly credentialed. The very guy who assaulted the USA gymnasts was highly credentialed as “do no harm”. That was a lie.
Credentials, celebrity, committees, book sales, and household names will never be the key to clearing out Christian institutional covert, dare we say, savage abuse of vulnerables. It’s a gutsy endeavor, facing down the big-and-small name church monsters lurking undercover while wearing their masks of piety, with BFFs in high places.
Think: Major Richard Winters of Easy Company in “Band of Brothers”. No lime-lighter, he led his men first in battle, took the heat, and walked out of WW2 with neither fame nor glory, to his 9-5 quiet life, raising his family on a small farm: thin credentials, no celebrity, no book sales, no media interviews, and not a household name in his time. What he DID with his opportunities and how it impacted his men and the war was heroic.
Indeed. A perfect example being the current crop of credentialed “leaders” within SBC.
… will never get you into the inner ring of the Christian Industrial Complex
Hahaha. A typo that is very descriptive of the issue with the SBC, SGC, CMA and so many other organizations.
This is another tangential comment, but I can’t believe I sat under CJ’s supposed teaching for so many years. Talk about fake crying, he did that at the end of every sermon. First he’d talk normally, then he’d yell, then he’d whisper, and then he’d cry. No wonder I can barely summon up emotions about God, since mine were so manipulated for years.
And now the SBC has to live with him! But, he joins a family of other SBC New Calvinist pastors who manipulate, intimidate and dominate the pew … who cry without tears, who preach a God they don’t know.
There are thousands (perhaps millions) more just like you who have been used and abused by the Christian Industrial Complex. Look to Jesus (not the church) for your spiritual healing.
Ava Aaronson,
Jacob’s not a pastor, he’s a seminary student at SBTS, and he’s slowed down his education so he can support her work (eg, taking care of the kids, cooking, etc.). She’s also not lawyering except for her work within the church abuse community.
Not defending her, but we should take care to be accurate.
And to imagine also, that they’d fork over their hard-earned greenbacks they couldn’t afford anyway.
It’s amazing what a skilled witch-doctor can do with villagers.
The same Jesus who was Weaponized to justify that abuse?
The same Jesus in Whose Name you got abused?
You’ve got a long uphill slog with that, Max.
To abuse victims who have been Groomed by years of abuse to see Jesus as The Biggest Whip, a Weapon targeted on them.
Anyone remember Seneca? Used to be this blog’s regular troll? Always taking the side of the abuser over the abusee? Smug in his Righteousness?
Well, he’s up to his old tricks on another blog. With a characteristc checkmate move of invoking the Great White Throne: “When you Stand before GOD in Judgment, what are you going to say? ‘I rejected Christ because my pastor abused me’?” Christianese Guilt and Fear Manipulation at its finest, just like Jack Chick. Continuing the abuse in the name of God and Christ.
Max, this is what your “Look to Jesus” is up against:
https://loriannethompson.com/2022/08/25/i-have-this-against-you-2/
To someone who’s been beaten down like that, you’re going to sound like another Pious Platitude.
Any healing will have to be done in-person, coming alongside Former CLCer and staying alongside him/her for the long haul. And that’s something we just can’t do over a blog or (Anti-)Social Media, it has to be Meat coming alongside Meat in Meatspace.
And by example, Patrick Stewart’s Evil Twin Chuckles groomed you to see Manipulation under every bed and in every closet. To never ever be Manipulated like that again. To the point you’ll be suspicious of attempts at genuine help.
Dear Headless Unicorn Guy: Just wanted you to know how much I appreciated your comments here in response to the “Look to Jesus” answer. Because I can tell you get it. However well-intentioned (and it no doubt is), that oft-rendered “Look to Jesus” answer often feels more like salt in the wound than any help. And I too find this piece by Lori Anne Thompson to be full of truth: “I arrived in chains. In your Christendom wisdom, you slipped a noose around my emaciated neck. You taught me the tap dance of the traumatized to hymns of hope…I brought my naivety, my childlike faith, and my trust to thee. You broke all three.” https://loriannethompson.com/2022/08/25/i-have-this-against-you-2/
Those who have experienced dark chapters in their life and then gloriously came to salvation, hope and the love of Jesus can see more clearly the miserable condition of the American church that long-established churchgoers can’t.
That’s why I qualified my comment “Look to Jesus (not the church) …”. Much of the organized church is a mess; those who look to Jesus are having trouble staying in it.
Re: someone’s questions about Rachel Denhollander’s status as a lawyer:
— She attended Oak Brook College of Law, which is a distance learning law school (not really the same as “homeschool”, which is not recognized above secondary school level).
— The Juris Doctor is from Oak Brook is recognized by California, but the school is not ABA-accredited. Many states have non-ABA accredited law schools; their degree recognition varies. Some employers require one’s law degree be from an ABA-accredited school, but not every state requires it as a condition of licensure for practice or admission to the bar. (Actually, I’m not sure if any state does – haven’t surveyed the law of every state on this).
— She has an active law license with the state of California: https://apps.calbar.ca.gov/attorney/Licensee/Detail/270218
I’m not friend or foe of Rachel, just responding to a query about facts.