Essays authored by former Southwestern Seminary President Paige Patterson and former Southern Seminary missions professor David Sills have been quietly removed from an updated version of Holman Bible Publisher’s CSB Study Bible and the forthcoming NASB Study Bible. The change,…
Abuse isnʼt the result of sin; itʼs the result of omnipotence
What if power abuses are ultimately theological? Clergy abuse is so common, it has become a cliche. The new archbishop of Canterbury was accused of colluding with an abusive priest. In December, a federal judge ordered the New Orleans Archdiocese…
Mary Sills feared ‘disaster’ in family relationship with Lyell
One of the most peculiar claims to arise out of the defamation suit brought by David and Mary Sills is that the former missions professor justified his extramarital relationship with Jennifer Lyell by saying his wife knew about it. David…
Basham was advising Sills while condemning Lyell
In May 2022, Megan Basham wrote to Texas pastor Tom Ascol as an intermediary to seek clarifying information from David Sills about his relationship with Jennifer Lyell and subsequent firing from the faculty of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. That email…
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…
Court records reveal tangled trail in Sills sexual abuse case
A sprawling collection of discovery material now made public has unearthed explosive new details and previously unknown facts regarding the Southern Baptist Convention, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and the sexual abuse allegations involving former professor David Sills and his former…
David Sills won’t press case against Lyell’s estate
Since Jennifer Lyell is dead, David and Mary Sills will not seek legal damages against her estate but they will continue their litigation against the Southern Baptist Convention and 10 other people or entities. Sills, a former professor at Southern…
Jennifer Lyell, key figure in SBC abuse crisis, dies after brief illness
One of the key figures in the Southern Baptist Convention’s sexual abuse crisis has died prematurely after reportedly suffering a massive stroke days earlier. Jennifer Lyell, a former executive at the SBC’s Lifeway Christian Resources, died Saturday, June 7, at…
Judge rules discovery may continue in Sillses’ lawsuit against SBC parties
One of the multiple lawsuits currently pending against the Southern Baptist Convention and its various agencies got a green light to continue Nov. 22, despite objections that the case is “frivolous” and legal discovery could cause harm. U.S. District Judge…
Lyell asks Alabama court to dismiss Sills lawsuit for lack of jurisdiction
Sexual abuse survivor Jennifer Lyell has filed a motion with the Circuit Court of Mobile, Ala., asking that a lawsuit brought against her and others by David and Mary Sills be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. In November, the Sillses…
Why was the Sills lawsuit filed in Alabama?
Amid the nationwide interest generated by the recent lawsuit brought by David and Mary Sills against the Southern Baptist Convention and 11 other defendants, some observers have raised a particular question: Why was this suit filed in Alabama, when none…
Sills lawsuit misrepresents a piece of evidence, and that error got highlighted by Ascol and Basham
After Baptist News Global broke the news that former seminary professor David Sills and his wife, Mary, filed a defamation lawsuit against the Southern Baptist Convention and 11 other defendants, three high-profile Southern Baptists took to Twitter to highlight one…