By Christa Brown A mother, who says her son was repeatedly molested by a minister at one of the Southern Baptist Convention’s largest churches, claims the church needs to come clean about a cover-up of child sexual abuse. “I want…
Clergy sex abuse and ‘the silence of the many’
By Christa Brown “True evil lies not in the depraved act of the one, but in the silence of the many.” On this day, I am contemplating these words, attributed to a black Baptist preacher, Martin Luther King Jr. In…
When will SBC address clergy sex abuse?
By Christa Brown The Southern Baptist Convention is convening its annual ballyhoo in New Orleans this week, but it doesn’t look as though they will make any progress on protecting kids against clergy sex abuse. Since 2006, clergy abuse survivors,…
Words alone won’t stop Baptist predators
By Christa Brown Penn State has hired former FBI director and federal judge Louis Freeh to investigate gaps in how the university handled allegations of child sex crimes involving former football coach Jerry Sandusky. To assist him in the task,…
Cancer awareness and hell-wishing
By Christa Brown The American Cancer Society estimates that the year 2011 will bring 230,480 new cases of invasive breast cancer among women in the United States. I’m one of those cases. For me, what was even worse than learning…
Prestonwood saga shows clergy abuse database is overdue
By Christa Brown Most major faith groups in the United States have denominational processes for assessing reports about clergy sex abuse. The Southern Baptist Convention does not. Instead, the SBC has chosen to denominationally do nothing. That choice makes the…
John Jay report holds lessons for Baptists
By Christa Brown Last week, the John Jay College of Criminal Justice released the results of a five-year study on the “causes and context” of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests. Though the study was commissioned by United States…
Pontius Pilate holds lesson on clergy sex abuse
By Christa Brown As Holy Week unfolds, I find myself thinking about Pontius Pilate, the powerful Roman leader who thought he could wash his hands of an innocent’s blood by shoving responsibility onto others. “I find no fault in him.”…
Spending God’s money
By Christina Brown The secrecy of Southern Baptist Convention officials about a financial scandal at their International Mission Board wasn’t anything unusual. It’s the sort of thing we’ve seen over and over again. Southern Baptists need to begin seeing the…