“Of course there are some among the vulnerable and desperate ones seeking sanctuary! Such places are where predators often hide. And this fact alone should not lead to neglect of the vulnerable. In fact, it increases the urgency.”
-Diane Langberg
Today I share with you the life of Jayson Rowe. His life was short, tough, twisted and tragic. Here is a brief overview in his own words, published on his blog:
Sunday, May 14, 2017
Thy Will Be DoneThis has been one of the best months of my life, and it’s only 14 days in as of writing these words.
I’ve shared bits and pieces of my story, but I wanted to sit down and share deeply about who I am, and how I got to where I am right now.
Let me start by rewinding 19 years.
In May of 1998, I was a high school dropout. I had been working as a concrete finisher for a couple of years by this point. We lived in an old mobile home in a very small town about 40 miles from my hometown. Going out to McDonald’s would have been an expensive, and extravagant outing. My mom became seriously ill, and almost died. Because she wanted to be closer to her family we moved back there. We were then living in an even older mobile home that only partially had working running water, was missing some windows, and leaked like a cardboard box when it rained. At that point, I didn’t know what I was going to do with my life.
On a whim, I walked into Florence-Darlington Technical College in July of 1998. I asked to speak to a guidance counselor and I told her my story. I’m sad to say I do not remember what this lady’s name was, but here is what she did: She went and got a placement test of some sort, and had me take it. Something in me must have impressed her. She rushed me through the financial aid process, and I got a full ride based on need. She told me I could start classes in August, but I had to take and pass the GED at it’s next offering in September. I took the GED and passed with flying colors.
I continued at FDTC for two semesters, and I transferred into Francis Marion University. I still had a full ride based on a need-based financial aid. Things were going great, until I turned 21. When I turned 21, I discovered alcohol, and it was not good. My grades plummeted, and I dropped out of college in October of 2001.
Let me fast-forward to where I was in 2004.
Many, if not most days of that time in my life, I can guarantee that I drank copious amounts of alcohol. In June of 2004, I would walk out of a job I had fought to get, with no real experience nor a college degree at a software company that served the faith based community.
After I left that job, there were a few months of drinking more heavily than usual. I finally got a job at a national electronics store. After being in that job for about a year, I had a major health crisis. I was out of work for 8 months, and almost died. I won’t go into details here, but it wasn’t good, other than the fact that as a result of the illness, I stopped drinking.
I managed to get myself, and my life back together, somewhat, and I was able to go back to work at that electronics chain. Once I started back, I worked my way up the “corporate ladder” of that store, and I held several different leadership positions.
Now, fast forward to the where I was in 2007.
You see, I really loved the job and the company I walked out of in 2004. Even though I was being successful at my new job, I continually emailed my former boss. He finally gave me a new interview in 2007, and I was able to start back at my old company, in a better position than the one I walked out of.
Let me fast-forward now to where I was in 2012.
I was working for that same company that served the faith based community, but I hadn’t regularly attended church for years. I had drifted from the zeal for Christ and the church I had in my childhood and youth into some sort of agnostic fog of uncertainty. I was earning a good salary, and I had every reason to be happy, but I wasn’t.
In May of 2013 I bought a house and moved next door to one of my co-workers. In July of 2013, I went to an event at a church these neighbors invited me to, and I really felt God working in my heart. I knew that I had to get back into church, and I did.
At some point in that year, my pastor was out of town and as a guest preacher was the music minister’s son-in-law. All I knew about him was that he was in Seminary “up in Wake Forest”. I felt a a very strong twinge in my heart when he was introduced. Instantly and completely out of the blue, what popped into my head was “I wish I could go to Seminary.” Almost as instantly as I thought that, I was confused as to why I would think that. It’s funny to think now, but then, I did not even know that Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary existed. To me, “up in Wake Forest” meant at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem (I was at least smart enough to know that WFU was not in Wake Forest).
I felt a call to ministry when I was very young. I used to preach to people in waiting rooms, in line at the grocery store…wherever people couldn’t get away from me. Everyone thought it was cute then, but it was real. When I was a bit older, about 14, I felt the call again, and did nothing to act on it. This time, it was back, it was real, and it was insatiable. I hadn’t read anything longer than a blog-post in years and I was devouring every theological book I could get my hands on, and most importantly I was devouring the Bible.
I did eventually find out that the young man that preached that Sunday did not go to WFU, but to Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. By this time I had already researched, heard about, and been recommended to other schools, but I knew without a doubt I was going to Southeastern. I had a clear and definite call to come here, and I came.
I never came up for a campus tour, a preview day or anything. I applied in June, was accepted in July and I drove to Wake Forest for the very first time on August 8, 2014 and lived in a small room in a house set up as dorms for older, single male students. As I mentioned above, my mom hasn’t been in good health for years. She is doing better now than she has in years, but I still did not want her to stay by herself. Plus she has very limited resources, and wouldn’t be able to support herself alone. So she’s here too, we now live in a campus apartment in family housing, and she’s our building’s Grandma of sorts. She loves having all the children around.
This past Friday, on May 12 was probably the most emotional day I’ve ever had.
Now I don’t show emotion much. I guess that’s the introvert in me.
My emotion usually comes out in writing, or tweeting, but it’s been strong.
I’ve never graduated from anything in my life, but on Friday, May 12, 2017, I graduated from college.
God can and does work miracles, and the fact I am here is clear evidence of that. I’ve now got my B.A. and I’m starting on my M.Div.
I’m still listening to, and discerning God’s call, and His will, but I do know one thing: He wanted me at Southeastern, and I am here, and here I am going to stay. I will gladly tell anyone considering Seminary to come here too if you feel God calling you.
This place is special. The leadership and the faculty continue to not only educate, but inspire and encourage me. I still, after three years get excited walking onto campus every day. I love this place, and I know I am where God wants me. I can’t wait to see what is ahead, but I know it will be great, because God is great.
At our graduation ceremony, Dr. Akin preached from Philippians 1:21: “For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain (CSB).” I’m living for Christ now, and I know that when I die, I will gain because I will for eternity be in the presence of Christ.
If God is calling you somewhere, to do something, listen. I earn far less of a salary now than I did when I left my old career, but I now know the joy of following God’s will for my life. It’s amazing. God can, and will do amazing things if we just listen to him and come when he is calling us.
In the story above Jayson Rowe understandably left out a darker side of his life. He mentioned that in July of 2013 God was really working on his heart. What he didn’t mention was that he was also arrested on July 23, 2013 for filing a false police report. Jayson claimed he had been a victim of a carjacking by a black man with a knife and forced to drive to a bank and take out money.
After investigating the Police found out there was no carjacking and the “encounter with an alleged suspect was entirely consensual and not related to any violent act.”
There is much left unsaid, but reading between the lines I am guessing Jayson hooked up with a male prostitute. I don’t know why he felt compelled to make up a story about a carjacking; perhaps his neighbor whom he worked with at a “faith based company” witnessed him and the other man together at an ATM machine.
This incident was, in my opinion, a huge red flag in Jayson Rowe’s life. I doubt it was a single incident.
Jumping ahead a bit, here is what a spokesperson from Southeastern said about this incident:
“Rowe disclosed the arrest in 2014 as part of his enrollment application, noting that the incident was a misunderstanding and charges were dropped. He had “good references” and “no other warning signs said a seminary spokesperson.”
I’m sorry, but SEBTS needs to do better. It seems they were not very thorough in their investigation, if there even was an investigation. In my opinion, many institutes of higher education place a higher priority on bringing in dollars than ensuring they have quality students.
So Jayson Rowe got himself accepted into Southeastern, graduated from college and enrolled in SEBTS. He seemed to love his life in school, his professors were great, his fellow students were great, and perhaps living on campus surrounded by Christians helped keep him off the bottle and on the straight and narrow.
Jayson Rowe mentioned several times in his blog his respect for Danny Akin, likewise his respect for Bruce Ashford, the Provost.
Jayson Rowe finishes his Seminary training and in December 2018 obtained a job as Pastor of Conway Baptist Church in North Carolina. Nine months later Rowe married Heather Vann Knight, a single mother raising 3 boys.
Rowe is very active on Twitter, commenting on SBC matters, and frequently praising well known SBC leaders. In one Tweet he comments on the rampant sexual abuse by pastors in the SBC. You will see that this is quite ironic, and yet a clever way to keep people from realizing he himself is a sexual predator. (Former Wartburg Watch contributor, Wanda Martin, commented on his Tweet.)
On June 3, 2020 tragic news broke – Pastor Jayson Rowe had unexpectedly died the previous day. Danny Akin was stunned and stated Rowe was “one of the kindest and most encouraging men I have ever known. His death is heartbreaking and I am overcome with sorrow by it.”
The following day, June 4, 2020 new details were revealed about the death of Jayson Conway. He had committed suicide. Tom Collins,the Chairman of the Conway Baptist Church Deacon Board stated that “a teenage church member had brought forward a credible allegation of “inappropriate contact” committed by Rowe.” Collins later told the press that the victim was a 17 year old male.
Unfortunately, Conway Baptist Church knew of the arrest of Jayson Rowe in 2013 when they hired him in 2018, but they were satisfied it was “an isolated event that had occurred in his past.”
Meanwhile, back at SEBTS I would imagine that Danny Akin was embarrassed that he had published such a strong, albeit heartfelt, statement of praise for Jayson Rowe. SEBTS quickly responded by publishing the statement below on June 5, 2020.
This is obviously a very tragic story. Many were deeply hurt. I can’t help but think of Rowe’s wife, Heather and her three boys. Even now, 2 plus years later, we should all say a prayer for them.
The takeaway in this story is we must all do a better job in keeping predators out of churches. They are ravenous wolves that are attracted to the ministry and can blend in very well with the sheep. When we see an incident such as Rowe had in 2013 it should not be dismissed.
Moral of the story: when you have a gut feeling about someone that is not positive, go with your gut and TELL SOMEONE.
“The takeaway in this story is we must all do a better job in keeping predators out of churches. They are ravenous wolves that are attracted to the ministry and can blend in very well with the sheep. When we see an incident such as Rowe had in 2013 it should not be dismissed.”
————-
“The following day, June 4, 2020 new details were revealed about the death of Jayson Conway. He had committed suicide. Tom Collins, the Chairman of the Conway Baptist Church Deacon Board stated that ‘a teenage church member had brought forward a credible allegation of “inappropriate contact” committed by Rowe.’ Collins later told the press that the victim was a 17 year old male.
“Unfortunately, Conway Baptist Church knew of the arrest of Jayson Rowe in 2013 when they hired him in 2018, but they were satisfied it was ‘an isolated event that had occurred in his past.’”
———————-
Where in tarnation in the universe and history of humanity is an adult “having inappropriate contact” (CORRECTION: assault, molestation, rape, violation) “with a minor” (CORRECTION: OF/TO/AT A MINOR – NOT “WITH”) – ever an overlookable, ever an isolated “event”, a mistake, organic, an event that just happened???????
Hello: “inappropriate contact” (assault, molestation, rape, violation) is THE DARK SIDE. How, Why, with Whom is this normalized????
Crossing over to the DARK SIDE is an intentional act of the will destroying the conscience, the soul, the essence of humanity in the person who crosses to the Dark Side to commit a heinously evil act against an innocent other person. It is entry into a certain type of hellish behavior chosen by the agent, the actor, the one doing it. They just partnered with the devil himself.
The victims KNOW this. The victims are affected to the core of their humanity, their being, for their entire lives on Earth. A line was crossed (however subtly) and they were unforgettably VIOLATED!!!!
“The Danger of Disregarding Red Flags”
Disregarding the red flags of a predator violating innocent victims, is, in essence, discarding the victims. Their lives are disposable. Disregarding the red flags is empowering evil (predators) and disempowering those violated.
Disregarding the red flags from the get-go is moral decay. The original violation began a downward spiral (to hell) that spirals out of control down to the depths of a black hole of evil with each disregard of the original red flag.
“Research shows that best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. And if somebody commit a crime and got away with it, the odds that in their mind they are going to be able to commit another crime and get away with it, actually go up.” – Dr. Bryanna Fox, Criminologist
FilmRise True Crime, “Taken Too Soon: Amber Dubois & Chelsea King | Murdered at First Sight” at the 21.30 mark. https://youtu.be/ABknN5kwQmM
The American church is being judged for elevating the world’s criteria for leadership over the Spirit’s character, empowerment, and calling.
Case in point: How many “lead pastors” have you heard say that they aren’t pastoral but supply the vision for the church and are called to be the main preacher on Sunday morning? Elder, bishop, and pastor are used interchangeably in the NT. You cannot be a biblical pastor and not have a shepherd’s heart, like the Good Shepherd whose name they claim to lead in.
Being charismatic, articulate, a good salesman, a visionary, and an entrepreneur are good qualities for a CEO, but are not required for being a biblical pastor. Besides, how many sociopaths/psychopaths have used/currently use these same qualities to cover up their evil?
The church needs to spend more time identifying and confronting the wolves among the sheep and less time applauding them in the false name of grace when their sins come to light.
I think one of the most frustrating things about attending Liberty and SEBTS was the rampant hypocrisy. I heard a lot of “He’s a good man” about people that were clearly terrible people (looking at Junior right now). Either they don’t know what it means for someone to be good or it’s just lies (I think it’s lies). I also heard a lot of terrible things about decent people, more often women than men. There’s a ton of nepotism in that crowd and angling for celebrity status.
When I walked away from evangelicalism, it was with certainty that whatever God was, they weren’t it.
Red flags are too often ignored because church folks blindly trust … you simply can’t afford to do that! “Be vigilant always for your enemy the devil is always about” (1 Peter 5:8).
I have a question: Is there any reason to believe that his initial victim was a minor?
Bringing false witness against someone is a serious issue Biblically. Very serious. So much so that it explicitly made the 10 Commandments. And in this case, this man could have easily destroyed another man’s life completely. And on top of that, it seems to me that there may be a racial motivation to that initial crime. I agree that this is an exposure of some very serious character flaws, that in and of themselves, should have disqualified him from service. Especially because there looks like there hasn’t been any form of repentance. Notice, everyone says they determined it was a one time anomaly – not that he had admitted his sin and repented and taken a good hard look at what happened and why so it won’t happen again. Just: “that was an aberration on his typical behavior, so we aren’t worried about it.”
But I was not expecting to have a witness to come forward to expose SA of a minor. I was kind of expecting an adult consensual partner to come forward and expose him has gay. So, what, from what we know of this case, what should have indicated that this man was not only a danger for just making up heinous stories about someone for no apparent reason, to also SA of kids? Because the first does not necessarily lead to the second.
What I’m getting at is: how do we spot the likelihood of the second? Because this should not just effect who we allow to lead us, but also how we allow people in our lives in general.
Full disclosure: I have a family member who has been willing to make up heinous lies about me, and has taken no responsibility for this. I avoid them like the plague because I don’t trust them at all. How does one determine what danger they are to minors? This is a serious topic in my (completely secular) counseling at the moment. Because the thing I have struggled with is determining what level of danger this person actually poses to not just me, but others.
Casting this kind of Vision?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyV_UG60dD4
Good little Suckers, the Easiest of Easy Marks.
This is what happens when we disregard those pesky scripture passages about who can be leaders.
And expect to get treated like Cassandra from the Iliad: Cursed by the gods with Perfect Prophecy; every word she prophesied would come absolutely true — and Nobody Would Ever Believe Her. Ever.
Because a successful Predator has a perfect Angel of Light Mask that only Cassandra can see beneath.
Headless Unicorn Guy,
And expect to get accused of sinning against someone else.
ES,
The police apparently investigated the situation and questioned the other guy, so I don’t think he must have been a minor. However, a lot of these situations are not really about sex and attraction, but about power over vulnerable people. These guys go into ministry because they enjoy abusing power and many Christians naively let them, even after their abuse is discovered. It seems to me Jayson percieved that both the falsely accused man and the teen were more vulnerable than him, so that’s why he went after them.
Both a sickness of the soul and perversion of the flesh. Child abusers are an evil lot, but pastor child abusers are perhaps the worst of all.
Okay, call me naive, but. Where is the throughline from filing a false police report to committing sexual molestation? I’m not sure what connection is being drawn here. The idea that the situation with the false report involved prostitution is speculation.
Should a guy who admitted to having a massive alcohol problem, and has a criminal record, be accepted uncritically to a seminary? Probably not. But I’m not sure that means somebody should have known he was a predator.
The Apostle Paul called himself a “persecutor of the church” and admitted to holding the coats of those who stoned Stephen to death … a bad resume, indeed! But here’s the deal … after his conversion, he did none of those things. While alcoholism and a criminal background should certainly restrict one from entering seminary, not being a Christian, not knowing Jesus truly, should prohibit anyone from entering the ministry. IMO, many “men of God” are not men of God at all … you shall know them by their fruit. Admission to seminary should involve some very careful fruit inspection.
Should not we all be more careful in our churches doing background checks on volunteers, applicants, helpers, pastors and such. But also, we must remember that most of them know they are guilty and have concocted stories around their past, and are able to lie their way out of any questioning.
Yes, he was a child abuser. Yes, SEBTS made a mistake. I don’t think it is cause to make them out to be an organization that harbors child predators.
CMT,
ES,
Preying on minors might have appeared to be safer than a rendezvous with an adult that could have led to an arrest. Minors are often quiet for years before they are brave enough to come forward and report sexual abuse. The victims are sometimes naive (I don’t want to get this nice into person into trouble), embarrassed, or fearful that they will get into trouble with their parents. It’s really important to educate children/teens regarding the nature of inappropriate relationships with adults.
This is not a one time thing. At least three of my classmates from SEBTS have been convincted of child molestation. Two of those were while we were students.
https://thewartburgwatch.com/2017/08/28/a-story-of-collateral-damage-how-a-sex-abuser-at-providence-baptist-church-affected-more-than-those-he-abused/
However, I think this is an SBC-wide problem, not a problem specific at SEBTS. I think that has been well documented by the Guidestones report, by the Houston Chronicle, and by dee. The Guidestones report made it very clear that SBC leaders worked very hard to cover up cases of abuse and protect abusers. And even after the convention made it clear they wanted clarity from the EC, the EC tried really hard to keep transparency from happening. So now the DOJ is involved. The problems at SEBTS are only symptomatic of a religious culture that protects and enables abuse.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/southern-baptist-convention-says-justice-department-investigating-deno-rcna42954
But a rendezvous with an adult of either gender can be completely legal as long as it’s consensual and not prostitution.
So that doesn’t entirely make sense to me.
And I understand that power can be the motivation, so there was something about the power of falsely reporting that is similar to the power over a minor.
I’m still not sure its a predictable pattern. False reporting isn’t a slippery slope to child SA.
And again, the Bible takes bringing false witness against someone very, very seriously. It should. Carjacking with a weapon is a criminal offense that could have seen the victim’s life permanently altered. False witnesses have killed others via the judicial system extensively in history. It’s very serious and on its own should disqualify him. But it feels like there is an expectation that we could predict that he’d SA teens from the False Reporting incident, and I’m just not tracking that the one predictably leads the to the other.
My point is kind of moot. The first incident was really, really serious and should not have been so easily dismissed. Maybe my brain read the article as an escalation and instead it should be viewed as a continuous pattern of egregious behavior that doesn’t have to be logically connected to be a pattern of this person doing really harmful things. Not someone repeating the same thing over and over again, but someone who consistently chooses to do a variety of wrong. IE the kind of person who never makes the same “mistake” twice. But makes lots of “mistakes.”
On this topic. Maybe we as a society don’t take this seriously enough? Once the Salem witch trials were over, what was the punishment meted out to the individuals who later admitted to lying and causing the deaths of so many? That was an absolutely horrific historical moment, but I’m not sure those responsible were ever held responsible. During Jim Crow, there are several instances of False witness brought against African Americans that resulted in lynchings. And even after the truth came out, the perpetrators went on to just live their lives without repercussions.
Does our society just not recognize this sin as being as serious as it is? Is that why I (and other commenters) cannot logically connect the False Witness thing to the child SA thing. Because, when I really think about it, Jayson Rowe claiming a black man car jacked him with a weapon isn’t different than some of the False claims that lead to lynchings in the last century. If Jayson had murdered someone, and then it came out that he also SA’d a minor, nobody in the comments would be trying to figure out how the one should have tipped us off that the other could happen. We’d just go “he’s obviously not a good person, and unsurprisingly he does more than one type of bad thing.” Yet, not that long ago, a white man accusing a black man of car jacking with or without a weapon could have ended with the black man’s death. And not that long ago, a church wouldn’t bat an eye at hiring the white man as their pastor. Is that the connection we should be looking for?
Most SA is not prosecuted, either, so I’m not sure thinking of these in order of escalation should be viewed by whether or not they were prosecuted. A lot of things aren’t prosecuted when they should be. The first really should have led to a conviction, I agree. My state really goes after people with a tiny bit of marijuana but rolls their eyes at an affluent frat guy raping another student because it would “ruin his life”. There’s some serious things wrong with our legal system that are another discussion entirely.
I think Dr Ashford has made an excellent step in no longer “dealing with facebook page situations”. The sole article by him I’ve read is of a noticeably better calibre than any of his peers’ ones.
I am gloomy about an institution like that setting up vulnerable people on a pedestal.
I would like to see a totally fresh and dazzling concept, “seminaries” for be(com)ing believers. These should be part time, at home, with one’s unpaid companions as “teachers”.
First filter out the wrong teachings that come from the formal teachers, and after that one must seek a grounding in as many fields of general (as well as Bible) knowledge as one can. Pay your way forward by teaching your fellows something they want to know that you already know.
Source cheap books from non-monopolists according to taste and serendipity. Find free PDFs you don’t have to register for. We only get one chance to get enthusiastic about the world around us (that’s now) and this is for christians whether of high or low position.
I don’t recommend passing out criteria (like some movements) – believer is something one is continually. Love believes (explores) all things, namely subject matter.
The whole way through this I read “set up”. That mindset dangles all or nothing. They wanted his scalp as trophy, he is paradable whether successful or failing (melodrama factor). They crave those who will be “one of us”. They tut tut over those who don’t “make” the grade to be “one of us”. A grade they made him make, instead of letting him live a life on life’s terms. (Some better colleges offer part time theology certificates or diplomas to hobbyists.)
I’m dubious about this man’s back slapping (ad hominem religion) as if he had been taught that it would reinforce his life. Would his brazen “superiors” punish themselves for ruining lives in a bad cause (including their “success stories”, and all their pew sitters / tithers)?
When that type tell you from their pulpits that you are worms because you “refuse membership” and worms when you “accept membership”, that is the sought after melodrama in both cases.
It’s far more than lack of screening: it’s total lack of basis.
I dare say that every Southern Baptist (there are 15 million) knows at least one pastor who has committed sexual abuse (ranging from adulterous relationships to child abuse), whether in their own church or in the association of churches to which their church belongs. I was a Southern Baptist for 70+ years … I knew several pastors who committed moral failure, one who ended up in prison because of child sex abuse. I’m also convinced that pornograpy is a widespread problem among SBC church leaders.
What are the admission requirements at SEBTS?
Absolute Blind Loyalty to the Conservative Resurgence and The Beauty of Complementarianism.
Rank Hath Its Privileges.
Including Absolute Sexual Rights over all your Inferiors.
Just like a slaveowner over their Animate Property.
What is your position regarding Pedo Priests in Romish Popery?
Because they make Jesus Christ the god of child sexual abuse.
“And they call Lord Shardik… The god of the child slavers!”
— Richard Adams, Shardik (good read)
That is a really cogent argument. But I suspect that the legal system is a product of our own societies attitudes. And the reality is that within our justice system, we have Juries. And ultimately, the jury needs to be convinced or they won’t convict. Which means that it might just be psychologically easier to convict someone of marijuana possession than it is to convict someone of SA, and therefore prosecutors may be more willing to go after the low hanging fruit. So what causes in that (that being our willingness to recognize the smaller transgression over the larger transgression)?
That’s probably pretty close to the truth, HUG, for this ESV-only bunch.
The best authority for this question would probably be Fr. Guido Sarducci.
Max,
I think you’ll find that SEBTS is far more liberal in its views and has attracted a lot of criticism from Reformed conservatives.
And I have to ask what the point of this post was apart from giving another opportunity for regulars to vent their spleen about all manner of things? (“they make Jesus Christ the god of child sexual abuse” is a new low even for you HUG)?
The events described took place almost two and a half years ago and as Danny Akin told the Washington Post back then, he had known of only three or four such cases in his nineteen years at SEBTS. Also, hasn’t Rachel Den Hollander been appointed to some committee there to try to prevent such wrongdoing happening again?
And with no hint of sarcasm (well, maybe a little) I’m sure the perpetrator’s widow and children appreciate your belated prayers.
The whole post is both shabby and shameful, in my view, as are some of the responses.
Thanks for jerking me back to the center. I prayed for them just now.
At the time, a 2-3 page application, an essay about your personal faith statement, medical/immunization records, and 2 references, where one is from your pastor/church.
I didn’t find a list for the seminary, but the college requires a “covenent” and a headshot, apparently: https://www.collegeatsoutheastern.com/admissions/application-requirements/
No, the reality is that it never gets to a court room or before a jury.
https://www.uml.edu/news/stories/2019/sexual_assault_research.aspx
Max,
Rev Akin feigns surprise, but his cynical fundamentalism (common across denominations), which is a sloppy (William James) form of “liberalism”, has ridden roughshod over that good mother and her good children. Seminary as the only meaningful pedestal is a travesty of theosis (Christ growing in each of us through Holy Spirit) as the will of God for all. All Jayson ever had to go on was the teachings of the many churches of this kind, which all agree with each other in beliefs. The likes of Rev Akin told Jayson to not disbelieve what they are teaching. Is a small minority within self described reformed conservatives now going to seek deeper true beliefs? Let’s pray so, and that they will not be small.
(Good liberalism gets sadly neglected in all fields of knowledge.)
LLS, I would have thought you understood semiotics; the intrusive image of religion (Bismarck, whom Nietzsche slammed) is a real one created by most of its senior proponents across denominations, spreading from a centre outside Geneva.
Consecrated materialists rely on scepticism regarding spiritual reality to disguise their real power to lock up heavens like brass. Those who don’t discern the Body (the voice of children), are as St Paul reminds us dead in the water / dead hands / a dead weight / dead on their feet.
Who needs engage in an unfashionable corporal activity when they can devour older ones and especially minds?
They are more certain to not have a marriage, which baggage would crowd the atmosphere (unless one is into melodrama).
I don’t know Danny Akin from a hole in the wall but apparently he thought that his (white) testimony would be enough to jail a black man.
Unleashing his inner “Karen” apparently….
Jack,
And racism is an endemic problem in some evangelical Christianities.
Just to be clear, Danny Akin had nothing to do with Jayson Rowe’s false story about a black man carjacking him and forcing him to withdraw money from a bank. That crime took place in 2013. Rowe started college at Southeastern in 2014.
A religious culture that protects and enables abuse.” You know of 3 cases. First, the term culture seems to imply that the overall majority of people in that group of people are involved in that evil activity. Is that what you are saying? That the majority of leadership at SETBS are actively involved in protecting abusers and enabling abusers knowingly? I don’t think that is what you mean. Maybe you are jumpi9ng on the bandwagon that is making the entire SBC out to be a group of Satanically inspired, evil-minded, ungodly abuse protectors, only interested in money and fame and not the propagation of the gospel.
Bob M,
I don’t need to jump on any bandwagon because I witnessed case after case after case of egregious abuse in the SBC. There were 3 convicted cases of people at SEBTS of people that I knew personally. But I saw a whole lot more abuse than that. Many of those were never followed up on and weren’t listed in the report. But you didn’t really read my post, did you?
I went to a Baptist college that is now the subject of a tell-all documentary. The kicker line from that documentary? “Behind the scenes, all the evangelical leaders are freaks.” And having gone to a Baptist university, and a SBC seminary, worked in an SBC agency, and spent way too many years in SBC churches, I know that maybe the average joe probably isn’t a bad person, but there’s a whole lot of leaders who have done terrible things and I’ve seen a lot of them do them.
I knew Paige Patterson. He stole my student files when he left SEBTS, and harassed me to donate to his nonprofit using that information. I knew Johnny Hunt. I knew the Falwells and predicted way back in the 90s that Junior would do terrible things. I knew a number of other big-name Baptist leaders.
My last pastor was SBC president several times and is thought to be one of the “good guys” in the SBC, but I personally reported a Sunday School teacher harassing me sexually and was told, “It’s too hard to find another teacher so you just have to deal with it”. I saw a SBC entity leader screaming at his daughter that she was worthless (I only keep his name quiet for his daughter’s sake). He also physically shoved me out of his way at a convention because I was talking to someone he wanted to get in good with. Classy people.
Let’s not even get into all the lies. dee has done a good job reporting on a lot of those, along with Julie Roys and Robert Downen. Greear talking about how important Caring Well was and then hiring someone who covered up voyeurism of minors. The SBC attorney hiding the list of abusers but publicly claiming they didn’t have a list. All the stupid fake degrees and plagiarized books. You want proof of how unconcerned SBC leaders are about the truth and righteousness? That subject alone could fill multiple books.
They ALL enabled abuse. And plenty of people witnessed abuses but were threatened, bribed, and harassed into staying quiet. I’m not going to stay quiet about what I saw and what happened to me anymore.
And it’s people like you who really made me leave the SBC, who claimed that the things that did happen were “no big deal” and everybody was “exaggerating”. They’re not. If anything, they are not being loud enough about it. Because of people like you who tell victims to be quiet because it makes them uncomfortable and they don’t really want to know the truth. Or they’re actually hiding bad things or the people who do bad things.
Beyond protecting and enabling a few, American religious culture (not only SBC) has proven to be an easy target for many church leaders who find a trusting pew conducive to their perversions, who may not be exposed for years (if ever). Many who comment on this blog have experienced abuse first hand … I dare say that every churchgoer in America know one or more church leaders who have failed in this way … how many do you know? It’s a more widespread problem than we want to accept and believe, IMO.
You know what really astonishes me?
How the secular world is wayyyy more proactive about sex abuse and harassment.
It’s simply NOT TOLERATED.
Big contrast with evangelicalism which would rather remain out in la-la-land and pretend it doesn’t exist.
Ok, I give. You convinced me. The entire SBC should be condemned. They should all be put in prison. I never said it was no big deal. I am saying that you are exaggerating when you say it is a culture of abuse. I agree that every single abuser must be exposed, and excommunicated. I agree that sexual abusers must be on a public sexual offenders registry. But I do not believe that every pastor or leader in the SBC is guilty of covering up abuse. I don’t even believe that it is that many. 140,000 leaders in the SBC , what percentage do you really believe are sexual abusers. And I am not talking about someone who sends you a solicitation for money or pushed you at a meeting.
I never said every SBC leader was guilty of covering up sexual abuse. I said that many were guilty of covering up abuse. All kinds of egregious abuse. Child molestation. Sexual assault. Sexual harassment. Coercive control. Fraud. Plagiarism. Theft.
But the central members of the Executive Committee? They were covering up sexual abuse and their lawyer’s files confirmed that. The report is pretty condemning that there’s been problems they knew about all along and they tried to keep people from finding out. That is a culture of abuse central to the SBC.
Why does the SBC have to continue? What is even the point anymore? The SBC was created to fund missions and they’ve pretty much defunded the IMB. Churches don’t need the SBC to run. They’re autonomous.
While they were defunding 1,000 foreign career missionaries, they were funding thousands of North American church plants … but are they planting Gospel churches or New Calvinism?
That’s because they’re HEATHENS, “Walking in the Flesh instead of in The Spirit(TM)”.
Who needs Christ when you have CALVIN?
CALVIN who alone Has God All Figured Out?
“There is no ‘Christ’, there is only CALVIN”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lg7MAacSPNM
You mean the Central Committee of The Party, Comrade?