Dear Powell Baptist Church Family,
A couple of weeks ago, I shared
with many of you that a report was imminent on a serious trouble facing the
Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). The report I was alluding deals with
allegations of sexual abuse and subsequent cover up within the leadership of
our convention. Last June, the convention met in Nashville Tennessee. Thousands
of messengers (delegates from individual churches), myself included, heard of
the potential scandal and voted overwhelmingly to form a task force to uncover the
evil that lurked within our ranks. In response to that, the Sexual Abuse Task
Force (SATF) was formed. The SATF then hired Guidepost Solutions, a third-party
investigative firm to inquire into the egregious sin.
Guideposts took on the enormous
task of investigating twenty years of allegations and compiled a 288 page
report summarized here: SATF
report shows EC pattern of resistance to addressing abuse claims | Baptist
Press. This report angers, saddens, and embarrasses me. Although the report
was released this past Sunday, May 22, 2022, I decided to take a few days
before writing because, quite honestly, I have been so sickened by it that it
took several days to even process. Men whom I have grown to love, trust, and
look up to find their names on the pages. Some were complicit in the cover ups
and one in particular has been named as an abuser. Even now it seems that words
are failing me. Years and years of not only sexual misconduct by those who lead
churches and our conventions, but lies, manipulations, gaslighting, and
corruption have invaded the SBC. Many survivors of the abuse were maligned and
intimidated. Their stories swept under the rug. However, Scripture tells us in
Luke 8:17 that, “Nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is
anything secret that will not be known and come to light.” It is imperative for
us to understand that our sin is known to God even if it may be concealed by
us.
Now it is upon us to respond to
this report. Far too long the survivors have been silenced and justice has not
been served. Next month, the SBC will meet again in Anaheim Calif., where
Stephanie and I will attend as messengers representing our congregation. Surely
much of our time there will be spent on discussing these matters and resolving
to bring justice to survivors as well as make progress in ensuring that
something like this will never take place again. Rest assured, if any sexual
abuse allegations ever come to my desk, I will take immediate and proper
action. Such wickedness has no place within the church or within any arena for
that matter. Powell Baptist Church will respond swiftly to any such accusations
and the appropriate authorities will be notified. Likewise, the 47000 churches
that comprise the SBC have spoken and will hold our leadership accountable and
place new standards of training, reporting, and response actions into our
collective toolbox.
I am still grateful for the SBC and
will still cooperate with the institution to further advance the Kingdom of
God. What gives me hope is that it was indeed the rank-and-file pastors and
laypeople who instigated the investigation to begin with. Our convention does
not mandate anything to the local church. Contrarily, the local church, through
its messengers direct the convention. In fact, the convention exists only for
the collaborative efforts of the local church and, further, the local church is
completely autonomous. While the SBC is receiving notable and global backlash
for the damning report, it was the efforts of the messengers from the local
church that brought this wickedness to light. We were grievously misrepresented
by certain members of our leadership and we took action to demonstrate who we
really are. Together as individual churches, as well as the Church as a whole,
we will stand for the broken. Together we will stand for the Gospel of Jesus
Christ.
This is a time of lamenting. Not
only does this damage our beloved convention, it damages the Kingdom. I am,
however, confident in one thing … the Church will not be defeated. I have
written this to you because I know that by this point it has been headline news
and as your pastor, I felt it necessary to respond to it with you. Being a part
of Powell means that you are a part of the SBC. I want you to be equipped with
the truth. Your relationship with the SBC need not be represented solely by
this. God has used our convention to be one of the largest missional
organizations the world has ever known. I have great confidence that the Lord
will preserve this institution for His purposes, but even if He chooses not to,
we can rest that His Church will remain. It is a distinct honor and privilege
to be your pastor and with my efforts, I hope to represent you well to the SBC.
Because He Bled,
Dr. M. Nick Bates
Senior Pastor
