Surrounded by FBI agents attempting to coax them into their vehicles, five of Samuel Bateman’s underaged wives huddled tightly. With trembling arms around one another, they sang, “And he will come again, and one by one we’ll rise, to praise…
The Southern Baptist Convention did not get ‘played’
I’ve spent a heckuva lot of time at the pottery studio this week. Working with clay is one of the things I do to try to keep myself steady when everything else seems too overwhelming. And with the release of…
What’s behind Denhollander’s apparent conflicts of interest?
Conflicts of interest are a bear, and sooner or later, the bear almost always bites. Three years ago, I wrote a mild-mannered column raising concerns about a potential conflict of interest issue involving Rachael Denhollander’s abuse-related work within the Southern…
Conflicts of interest and ‘dual roles’ undermined SBC abuse investigation
Across four years of Southern Baptist clergy sexual abuse research, investigations and debate, one name continually rises to the surface: Rachael Denhollander. The woman who began the public accusations against USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar in 2016 has played…
Southern Baptist leaders’ duplicity betrays abuse survivors
Newly released court documents depict an image of Southern Baptist leaders’ duplicity in dealing with clergy sex abuse. The documents derive from the defamation lawsuit brought by former seminary professor David Sills, and that lawsuit stems from the sexual abuse…
Matt Queen’s return to the pastorate sends a message
In October 2024, Matt Queen pled guilty to lying to the FBI in a sexual abuse investigation, and now, just a year later, Queen has been hired as associate pastor at a prominent Southern Baptist church. At the time of his crime, Queen…
Where are the SBC leaders who will call Allen Jordan to account?
For a decade now, the Southern Baptist Convention has abided a voracious liar in its midst and done nothing publicly to silence him. That liar is Allen Jordan, who lives in Houston and is the most persistent denier of a…
Does Jeff Iorg really believe Christa Brown and Tiffany Thigpen are liars?
The most persistent denier of a sexual abuse crisis in the Southern Baptist Convention now says SBC Executive Committee President Jeff Iorg agrees with him that the stories of two key abuse survivors are false. In a June 18 email…
For abuse survivors, SBC meeting brings pain and lessons
When the Southern Baptist Convention meets next week in Dallas, many clergy sex abuse survivors will feel the hurt and betrayal of it. This will be the first SBC annual meeting since Executive Committee President Jeff Iorg made it clear…
SBC clergy sex abuse crisis doesn’t stem from ‘the Sexual Revolution’
Sexual abuse is “the rotten fruit of the Sexual Revolution,” says Jeff Dalrymple, director of the Southern Baptist Convention’s newly created Sexual Abuse Prevention and Response department, which operates under the SBC Executive Committee. In two Baptist Press columns published…
The SBC’s clergy sex abuse database is dead, so why the hotline?
After years of trailing out hollow words, impotent task forces and phony dog-and-pony shows of purported reform, the Southern Baptist Convention’s top CEO straight-up admitted that a database of clergy sex abusers is “not a focus for us.” This bit…
Please, no more hollow words on sexual abuse reform
Dear Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee: Please stop with all the talk-talk-talk about abuse reform. All the promises. All the posturing. All the platitudes. Just stop. Until you have at least 1,000 names of clergy sex abusers in a database…