Dear Editor: Mark, mystery solved. Please let your BNG readers know that I am the “rogue, non-professional, lone ranger source” that provided the Abuse of Faith information to Phillip Robertson that you referenced in your Aug. 5 article. It was irresponsible for…
SBC leader offers little hope for change on addressing clergy sex abuse
Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee Chair Philip Robertson gives his thoughts on the clergy sex abuse problem within the Southern Baptist Convention in this video. Spoiler: He doesn’t think it’s much of a problem. Robertson attempts to discredit and sow…
Christa Brown’s book is defying sales patterns
Something fascinating is going on with Christa Brown’s memoir Baptistland. I’ve been in book publishing for almost 30 years, a career that allowed me to see many sides of the publishing business. My last corporate role was as vice president…
‘Bad Guys’ vs. ‘Good Guys’ narrows the framing on SBC and sexual abuse
The Southern Baptist Convention’s Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force disbanded without having implemented much of anything. The database they purported to “launch” last year — even hyping it as “historic” — remains empty. It holds not a single name of…
A call for state AG investigations of sexual abuse in the SBC
As the Southern Baptist Convention prepares for its annual gathering next week in Indianapolis, few in the abuse survivor community hold any expectation that it will make meaningful progress toward protecting kids and congregants against clergy sex abuse. It’s now…
A controversial horror film embodies the real-life horrors of church abuse
There’s a thin line between reading a memoir written by somebody who grew up in conservative Christianity and watching a horror movie. As Christa Brown, a frequent contributor to Baptist News Global, releases her new memoir Baptistland: A Memoir of Abuse,…
New data show SBC not really reckoning with sexual abuse
According to the Southern Baptist Convention’s latest statistical report, the SBC has lost more than 3.3 million members since 2006, which happens to be the year I did my first sidewalk press conference outside SBC headquarters, talking about clergy sex…
Church life is the perfect cover for abusers, Brown says in BNG webinar
The all-encompassing nature of church life can provide predators with the ideal cover for committing sexual abuse within congregations, abuse survivor and author Christa Brown said. “Access and trust. Pastors and churches have both access to kids and enormous trust…
Reminder: This week’s BNG webinar features Christa Brown, sexual abuse reform advocate
Christa Brown will be the guest on BNG’s next “change-making conversations” webinar on Wednesday, May 1, at 11 a.m. Central time. She will dialogue with BNG Executive Director Mark Wingfield. Brown is a frequent BNG columnist and author of the…