In newly released court transcripts, former SBC President and disgraced pastor Johnny Hunt is insisting that while he may have been ‘unfaithful’ to his wife by kissing another woman’s breasts and pulling down her underwear, he did not commit adultery, as no penetration took place, according to documents from BNG.
Thirteen years ago, disgraced pastor and former SBC president Johnny Hunt engaged in what he describes as a “brief, consensual extramarital encounter,” and what the woman involved maintains was non-consensual sexual assault. His church was never told about the incident and it remained a secret for a decade until it outed in the recent Guidepost investigation.
These allegations of sexual assault and revelation of (at the minimum) a “brief, consensual extramarital encounter” caused Hunt’s life and ministry to implode. He lost his job as VP at NAMB, was formally suspended from his position as Pastor Emeritus at First Baptist Church of Woodstock congregation, and was subject to great personal embarrassment.
In his deposition transcript, Hunt employs his best impression of Bill Clinton, seeking to parse out the definition and understanding of the word “is,” claiming that there is a difference between ‘unfaithfulness’ and ‘adultery,’ and while he may have been unfaithful to his wife, he did not commit adultery, which he defines as the act of putting a penis in a vagina and seemingly nothing else. We see the conversation between Hunt and a Guidepost attorney:
Q. “How would you define in your own words abuse?”
A. “When I think of abuse, I speak — I think of someone actually being physically hurt or — so abusive, which I guess it could have been verbal too. But that would be all I would have ever probably considered.”
Q. “And has your own opinion of what sexual abuse is or is not changed since 2010?”
A. “Yes. It’s changed since I now am able to see the legal definition of it. Absolutely.”
Q. “And what’s your understanding of the legal definition?”
A. “To use sexual abuse would be in the context of intercourse, at least, and I know in the state of Florida, and I think in Georgia and Tennessee. So I see it in that context, but definitely not consensual.”
Q. “So I want to be clear, you think in order for there to be sexual abuse, there has to be intercourse? Under a legal definition?”
A. “That would be part of it.”
The subjects derails for a minute, but then the attorney presses Hunt again:
Q. “How do you define adultery?”
A. “Adultery is a man that is married and he has sexual intercourse with someone other than his wife.
Q. “So Bill Clinton did not commit adultery?”
A. “I don’t know his story.”
Q. “If it did not result in sexual intercourse, which we will define as a man’s penis being inserted into a women’s vagina … .”
Q. “What do you consider being unfaithful to one’s spouse?”
A. “To be unfaithful, to me, in my heart, would have been to have gone to another lady’s room. But that is not adultery.”
Q. “OK. When do you cross the line from being unfaithful to committing adultery?”
A. “When you have sex with her.”
Q. “And by ‘sex,’ you mean intercourse?”
A. “Intercourse. Exactly.”
Q. “So you could be unfaithful by going to a woman — not your wife’s — room and kiss her and that is not adultery?”
A. “That’s not adultery.”
Later, the lawyer seeks to pin him down on how exactly he understands his actions, given that Hunt has claimed Guidepost engaged in a false narrative and “false allegations,” and pointing out that despite his protestations, he did in fact kiss another man’s wife, to which Hunt objects, insisting that he did not kiss her on the lips, while later admitting that he did kiss her breasts, as if the latter is not waaaay worse.
A. “I have never kissed her lips in my life. I have never touched her lips, so help me God.”
Q. “Now I’m confused.”
A. “OK, good.”
Q. “Because your complaint very clearly says that the encounter with Jane Doe involved kissing and awkwardly fondling.”
A. “Because she said I kissed her forehead at a time earlier. She just didn’t get the context, with her husband there, when they were both crying as I was offering counsel because things had fallen apart at their church. She also said on one occasion, which I do not remember, that I kissed her hand. And that was a real grooming moment, according to her testimony. But, no, my lips have never touched her lips.”
Q. “I want to be crystal clear that in her condo on July 10, 2010, you did not kiss Jane Doe?
A. “My hand raised to God, my lips have never touched (her) lips, ever.”
Q. “And you did not awkwardly fondle her?”
A. “I did awkwardly fondle her because she was coming on to me.
Hunt claims that the woman in question was “stalking” him and seeking to “seduce him, explaining his side of events”
“She talked me into sitting on the end of the couch. She was sitting on the opposite end. But then she turned around and spread her legs toward me. And then said, ‘Please come closer.’
That’s where she would say I pinned her in. At her request, I came and sat beside her. And then she lowered her top. She made herself available … and so when she did that is when I fondled her. And then I pulled her pants down with her help.
But as I did, I came under deep conviction, stood up and said, ‘I love my wife, and I love your family. And I shouldn’t be here. And I’m sorry. And I left. As I was leaving, she said, ‘Please don’t be this way. It’s only the first day.”
Finally, the lawyer pressed him further about this:
Q. “(These actions..) It was being unfaithful to your wife?”
A. “Yes, ma’am. But not adultery. I thank God I stopped when I did and left. And you can deem that fornication. You are severely wrong to call it adultery.”
And later again:
Q. “So just to be clear, the sexual encounter was full breast exposure with kissing and fondling her breasts while they were exposed?
Southern Baptist Convention President Bart Barber has named the nine men and women appointed to a new task force. One name stands out from the rest after he was accused of being involved in the leak and cover-up of Jennifer Buck’s rough draft of a document that outlines sexual abuse she suffered when she was younger, as well as the blackmail of her husband.
The newly appointed Implementation Task Force was formed in light of the ongoing scandals rocking the SBC. They’re the group that will decide how to implement and enact best practices for the Southern Baptist Convention and member churches to have all the tools they need to “be able to work to prevent and respond well to sexual abuse.”
Barber explains that there is a “deliberate diversity to the task force” and that no matter who he appoints, it will make someone uncomfortable or unhappy. Barber says that when he considered the task force list, he asked twelve women and ten men, and unfortunately, most women said no, so he ended up with a 7-2 male to female split. According to the Baptist Press, that list is:
Marshall Blalock, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Charleston, S.C., will serve as ARITF chair
Mike Keahbone, pastor of First Baptist Church in Lawton, Okla., will be vice chair.
Todd Benkert, pastor and lead elder of Oak Creek Community Church in Mishawaka, Ind.
Melissa Bowen, member of First Baptist Church in Prattville, Ala.
Brad Eubank, senior pastor of Petal First Baptist Church in Petal, Miss.
Cyndi Lott, member of Catawba Valley Baptist Church in Morganton, N.C.
Jon Nelson, lead pastor of Soma Community Church in Jefferson City, Mo.
Jarrett Stephens, senior pastor of Champion Forest Baptist Church in Houston, Texas
Gregory Wills, member of Travis Avenue Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas, as well as professor of church history and Baptist heritage and dean of the School of Theology at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Addressing the controversy of having Benkert on the taskforce, Barber released a video where he introduces all the members, and spent a third of his time justifying his one appointee.
The third taskforce member is Todd Benkert. And this is one of the folks who really generated a lot of questions online about Todd’s participation. And the reason for that is there’s been some conflict between Todd and Tom Buck and Jennifer Buck. And some people said, ‘How could you even think about appointing Todd Benkert? Well, I’m gonna explain to you about that.
First of all, I think it’s important to point out that some of the people who’ve contacted me with DMS and stuff like that, have, who have been really kind hearted folks who said, ‘hey, I want to give you the benefit of the doubt, but I can’t understand how you would appoint someone who leaked Jennifer Buck’s draft document about her abuse, and then covered it up. And, you know, I had to reply to folks like that and say that nobody’s even really alleging that Todd had anything to do with leaking that document.
Barber recaps the saga of the Bucks, (more on that here) and absolves Benkert of all involvement in the sordid affair, saying the only thing Benkert did wrong is lie to Buck about not knowing the identity of an anonymous source who may or may not have been involved in the dissemination of the document.
I think it’s wrong that Todd lied to Tom, but I don’t think that reasonably amounts to actively participating in a cover up. Todd doesn’t know who took that document, Todd does know who leaked the document, he would reveal that person’s identity if he knew it. I would too if I knew who it is….I don’t think that Todd is in a conspiracy to shame or blackmail or leak documents for anybody who’s a sexual assault survivor.
Barber concludes by answering the question of “even if Todd’s innocent and just got caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, there millions of Southern Baptists, why would you choose Todd?” This is true in light of the fact that there are so many other people who don’t stink of this scandal. He explains:
I’m so thankful that you’ve asked that. Todd’s a pastor and a lead elder of Oak Creek Community Church in Mishawaka, Indiana. This year at the SBC annual meeting, there was a booth at the SBC Pastors Conference in Anaheim just for sexual abuse survivors because Todd Benkert did that. This year in Anaheim, at the SBC there’s a breakout session to teach trauma informed ministry to SBC pastors and ministers. And that existed because Todd Benkert did that. Who else is doing things like that? Todd has worked really hard on his own initiative to build strong relationships with SBC survivors, and I just don’t know any other pastor in the SBC who’s done more to help those survivors. I just, I couldn’t imagine having this task force and ruling Todd out from serving on this task force.
Because again, it’s not, it’s not voting for who’s most likely to succeed or most popular in high school. Ultimately, this is about a task force that needs to have good ideas about preventing and responding to clergy sexual abuse. And Todd has demonstrated that he’s thinking about those ideas, and he’s working to try to implement them. And I think this taskforce will be stronger and more effective for hearing the ideas that Todd has. It’s true that Todd is my friend. He’s been my friend for a long time. Some people say it’s a good old boy’s network…, I tell you, I have a lot of friends who haven’t been appointed to anything yet. And, and most of this, most of the people on this taskforce, I’ve never sat in a room with and had a conversation.
A lot of them, I had to introduce myself to them on the initial phone call. I’ve never spoken to them before. So it’s not a good old boys club. It’s just that Todd has worked hard at this and I think he has good ideas. There’s one more thing. Todd represents something unique in the midst of all of this. A lot of people have expressed concern in the midst of are trying to prevent sexual abuse, that we’re not hearing that from the perspective of people who might have been the target of false accusations of sexual abuse. Todd has been the target of a false accusation of sexual abuse before. And so if you’re a Southern Baptists who’s has been concerned that we’re not going to pay attention to that possibility, even though it’s rare, false accusation, Todd’s presence on this taskforce provides that important perspective to help us keep in mind that reality. And so that should reassure you some that we have someone who’s had that experience.
Guidepost Solutions has released its “Independent Investigation of the Southern Baptist Convention”, a 288 page report that details the issue of sexual abuse in the convention. The report includes a sexual assault accusation against former SBC President Johnny Hunt, who partnered with Ravi Zacharias to open up massage parlors, as well as numerous other accusations of sexual abuse within the SBC. As one might expect, the Guidepost report sided with leftist Russell Moore, who pushed the convention to investigate claims of sexual abuse in a letter that claimed the problem was ongoing within the convention for many years, even as Moore did nothing to stop it while he was at the helm of the ERLC. The move by Moore has been exposed as a political hit job against conservatives within the convention.
While the accusations themselves will be the subject of much debate over the next three weeks, leading up to the denominational convention in Anaheim, the most disappointing part of the report is the unbiblical and destructive recommendations made by Guidepost:
Baptist Press As SBC Pravda
Baptist Press previously reported on former Vice President of Lifeway Jennifer Lyell’s admission of having a “morally inappropriate relationship” with a seminary professor that lasted 12 years. Following the report, the executive committee issued Lyell an apology for an alleged “misunderstanding” about the nature of the relationship. In the apology, Lyell’s relationship was portrayed as “non-consensual”, despite the age of the victim and the duration of the “abuse”. Baptist Press retracted the article and Lyell received a settlement in 2020 from the executive committee, and then a second settlement from the executive committee in 2022. Guidepost recommends that the convention should utilize Baptist Press to continue reporting on sexual abuse, while “balancing the public’s need for information against potential harm or discomfort”. Thus, the way that Baptist Press spun the Jennifer Lyell story will serve as a model for how it will manage stories that contain inconvenient facts in the future.
Sexual Abuse as Primary Focus of Credentials Committee
The credentials committee is responsible for investigating matters related to a church’s qualifications to be a part of the SBC. In recent times, churches and local associations have been removed for issues related to the acceptance of homosexuality and other cultural downgrades that violate the Baptist Faith and Message. Guidepost would like to remake the committee so that its primary focus is on sexual abuse, rather than doctrinal fidelity. This includes social engineering of the committee’s makeup to increase the representation of women and the social science practitioners.
Creation of a Sex-Abuse Bureaucracy
Guidepost’s recommendations include the creation of a new “administrative entity” to regulate and process sex-abuse allegations, because the best people to deal with sex abuse allegations apparently aren’t local law enforcement, or local leadership who understand the nature of the situation. Inevitably, such a bureaucracy will infringe on the autonomy of local churches. Guidepost doesn’t just want the SBC to establish a bureaucracy using the normal 2-year procedure that the SBC normally follows to create a new entity. Instead, the consultant agency recommends that the SBC create the bureaucracy at the upcoming June convention, in 3 weeks, using bylaw 25 to bypass the normal process that would be used to critically think about such an undertaking before rashly moving forward.
One Registry for Both Convicted and Accused
The Biblical standard for accusations against an elder requires 2 or 3 witnesses (1 Timothy 5:19). Guidepost would like the newly created sex-abuse bureaucracy to lump those convicted together with those who have been “credibly accused” in an offender blacklist.
“Credible” is defined as “not manifestly false or frivolous”, meaning that the burden of proof is on those who are accused to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the accusation is false. The list would also include those who “aided and abetted in the cover-up of such conduct”, which means that all of the conservative executive committee members who resigned in protest would also likely be a target of the blacklist.
and
The system would be publicly accessible, meaning that those individuals who are “credibly” accused, but not convicted, would receive the same treatment within the SBC as a convicted sex offender.
The #MeToo movement took the standards of determining guilt and innocence and turned them on their head. Now this movement is on the doorstep of the SBC in the form of the #Churchtoo movement. Proponents of the movement are rejoicing at the Guidepost report. They can’t wait to dance on the grave of the SBC.
Establishment of a Sex-Abuse Compensation Slush Fund
The executive committee used critical theory to redefine sexual abuse, making the case that grown women in consensual affairs could be considered sex-abuse victims. With that precedent set, Guidepost recommends that the SBC set up a “Survivor Compensation Fund Program” that will be funded by cooperative fund giving, the liquidation of SBC assets, and a special giving drive that would likely be similar to the Annie Armstrong or Lottie Moon Offerings. The fund would be administered by the newly created bureaucratic sex-abuse entity, whose master would determine the amount of compensation from the comfort of an ivory tower.
Guidepost understands that this move will be very costly. The cooperative fund will likely become a black hole for the cooperative giving of the convention. The consultant agency would also like local churches to add sex abuse prevention as a line item in their annual budgets.
Guidepost proposes that an “independent fund administrator” or “special master” be appointed to administer the fund, meaning that the final say on who receives money from the sex-abuse fund wouldn’t be in the hands of a jury, local church, or an elected SBC official, but rather an appointed bureaucrat.
Permit Outside Influences From Public Theologians and Consultants
Guidepost recommends that the Credentials Committee be given the authority and funding to retain a “panel of theologians” and Support Specialists, to support the decision-making processes of the committee, meaning that the committee that Guidepost would like to infuse with a significant number of sex-abuse survivors, social workers, and victim’s rights advocates could potentially be advised by the likes of Russell Moore.
The Credentials Committee would use advice from these so-called outside experts to determine the standards by which local churches are deemed either friendly or unfriendly.
While many of its local church recommendations are excellent, Guidepost’s recommended standards for cooperation would also require churches to fire anyone who is listed in the Offender Information System, which would include those who could not disprove an accusation, but were never charged with a crime. This would inevitably lead to a system where accusations are weaponized against innocent individuals in the church. If a pastor cannot disprove a false accusation, he will lose both his job and career, as part of the blacklist system.
Accept Anonymous Accusations
Guidepost recommends that the newly-created sex-abuse entity change the current policy of the credentialing committee to require that the committee accept anonymous submissions about sex abuse in a church, meaning that anyone, even pagan activists could manipulate the reporting system to devastate a church and pastor.
Anonymous accusations should never be permitted by the credentialing committee. If false accusations are proven to be false, the accuser should receive the punishment that he or she intended for someone who was innocent.
The judges shall inquire diligently, and if the witness is a false witness and has accused his brother falsely,then you shall do to him as he had meant to do to his brother. So you shall purge the evilfrom your midst.
Deuteronomy 19:18-19
The way that the convention deals with the Guidepost report will be key over the next few months. The annual SBC Convention meeting in Anaheim is sure to be a turning point, either for better or worse, as the messengers will either choose to change course and elect leaders that will reform SBC institutions; or double down on the tomfoolery and continue onward with denominational downgrade in a manner that is irreversible. God is sovereign over the SBC. He will either reform the institution, or it will become just another dashed piece of pottery beside the potter’s wheel. He will not be mocked.
Editor’s Note. This article was written by Paul Brown for Protestia
The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) Executive Committee has hired Guidepost Solutions to investigate claims made by outgoing Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) President Russell Moore that they mishandled and were involved in a cover-up of sexual abuse cases within monitoring churches.
The startling claims were leaked by the outgoing Moore in a series of two letters, one of which was sent to the current SBC President J. D. Greear where he accused the Committee of engaging in “wickedness,” while painting himself as a martyr.
Now, as I said to my trustee officers last year, through all of this I have tried to smile and pretend that everything is alright with me personally and to refrain from revealing the horrific actions you and I have experienced behind the scenes.
and that
These (Executive Committee leaders) are doctrinally orthodox and conservative leaders. They are talking about the sort of thing I am discussing here—and they don’t even know a fraction of a fraction of it.
This naturally begs the question: how is it that Moore knew all about the sex abuse cover-up, and instead of shouting it from the rooftops years ago when it happened, chose to instead, in his own words, “smile and pretend that everything is alright” and “refrain from revealing the horrific actions?”
What do you call someone like Moore, author of The Courage to Stand, who allegedly knew where all the bodies were buried, who put them there, and who threw the gun in the river, and did and said nothing about it?
If you thought to yourself, “A coward,” you’re not wrong, but also a lot kinder than us.
— SBC Executive Committee (@SBCExecComm) June 11, 2021
Guidepost is said to be a “global leader in monitoring, compliance, sensitive investigations, and risk management solutions and has deep experience providing advice and counsel to faith communities in this area.”
They were recently hired by the entity formerly known as The Ravi Zacharias International Ministry to ferret out institutional breakdown in order to determine how their pervert namesake used his ministry to fund his own private freak-a-thon for 20 years, as well as by Summit Church to determine whether or not their new hire Bryan Lorrits mishandled a sexual abuse case.
Guidepost is being hired to review the following:
These recent allegations against the SBC Executive Committee of mishandling sexual abuse cases and mistreating sexual abuse victims; the allegations of a pattern of intimidation; and
Review and enhance training provided to SBC Executive Committee staff and its board of trustees related to these matters, as well as its communications to cooperating churches and congregants in cooperating churches.
There is no timeline for when the report will be issued, other than it will be after what will prove to be one of the most pivotal SBC conventions since its inception.
With Dr. Russell Moore’s ‘leaked’ bombshell letter being released and conveniently timed to be of a kick in the gonads of the Southern Baptist Convention President hopeful Pastor Mike Stone, accusing him of turning a blind eye to sex abuse during his time as Executive Committee chair, this scorched earth tactic has paved the way for CRT-enabling final boss Albert Mohler to wrest the denomination away from conservatives and into his progressive possession.
Stone, backed by a sea of raging supporters who are now seeing and saying out loud what we have been for nearly a decade (and getting labeled divisive over it), took to his social media to lay into the departed Russell Moore in an open rebuke of his character and intentions, declaring in a damning indictment:
The letter itself is incredible. That is, it is without credibility.
Think about it for just a moment; here’s a man who’s the highest positioned ethicist in the Southern Baptist Convention – at least he was until just a few days ago. And if you take his letter at face value, then he has known about cover-up, intimidation, bullying, stonewalling, barriers, pressure, all of these sorts of things against victims of sex abuse.
He’s known about lies and backroom deals and corruption and he’s known about it not for days or weeks or months. He’s literally known about it supposedly for years while he has not breathed a word, meanwhile republishing a book called The Courage to Stand.
Fact check: true. Stone continues:
Nobody who knows me believes that I would ever be a part of trying to cover up sexual abuse or silence its victims. That again is an outrageous lie. And again I don’t use that lightly toward anyone, but nobody who knows me would believe those accusations.
And when I talk about people who know me, let me be clear; that does not include Russ Moore. He has never, though claiming the high moral ground in this issue, he has never, not one time in a private phone call email text message visit letter, he has never not one single time contacted me privately and personally to confront me about a sin that he thought that I was committing, to caution me about an error that he thought that I was making or to warn me about a misstep that he thought I was about to lead the southern baptist convention executive committee into. No, rather he chooses these guerrilla tactics, to use some of his own terminology.
Part of the problem we have here, is we have a generation of leaders who are raised in a participation trophy era that think that if you disagree with them about anything that you’re attacking them, and that they’re enduring some kind of trauma or psychological terror.
Once again, this is not the future of the Southern Baptist Convention. And while I’m on this point, the outlandish nature of the ungodly, unbiblical nature of Russell’s slander against me on this point, is only rivaled by the outrageous nature of pastors over on SBC Twitter. Pastors who hear one side of the story and immediately call for me to be removed from any office and banned permanently from any service in the Southern Baptist Convention…
As the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) grapples with sex-abuse scandals and pledges to do more, the SBC Credentials Committee is in the process of botching a high-profile case right before our eyes, behaving in a scandalously uncaring way, outright lying, obfuscating, and making further victims of the people they are supposed to be investigating.
THE BACKROUND
In 1998, a 17-year-old teenager named Jules Woodson was sexually abused by 22-year-old Andy Savage, the former youth pastor of Woodlands Parkway Baptist Church, now known as StoneBridge Church. This occurred after building up a relationship with her and grooming her to be receptive to his sexual advances. (Longer story here)
After the incident, she reported it to the Associate Pastor Larry Cotton. He tried to gauge how ‘complicit’ she was in the abuse, suggesting she may have been a willing participant in it, but ultimately chose to tell Senior Pastor Steve Bradley, about it and that the church would handle it.
They never did.
No further action was taken by the Church. Bradley did not go to the police, seeking to handle it “in house” and did not report it, as was his legal and fiduciary duty. Because of this, Andy Savage remained on staff and still lead Youth group for months after that.
Seeing that nothing was being done and no further actions were being taken, Woodson told her story to her female discipleship group, at this point emotionally distraught and hurting badly. With the information now out, it resulted in Savage leaving, with rumors swirling that perhaps he kissed a girl, but that it wasn’t that big of a deal and many were upset that he was going.
Woodson explains, “The church, however, never came out with an official statement addressing what had happened and/or what was being done about it. Instead, they held a going-away reception for Andy at the church in which he was allowed to simply say that he had made a poor decision and that it was time for him to move on from our church.”
In fact, years later the pastors and the deacons at the church, including Steve Bradley, contacted Woodson’s parents and asked if they would be ok to bring Andy Savage back on staff – a request the parents patently refused.
Lest anyone doubt the veracity of the story, the associate Pastor Larry Cotton eventually moved on to a new church. After allegations of his involvement in mishandling the case, the church took the allegations seriously and put him on leave. He resigned from the pastorate shortly thereafter, releasing a statement, confirming that the events happened as described, and expressing regret at how it was handled and that he should have gone to the police.
Facing his own pressure, Savage was forced to address the sex crime from the pulpit at the new church he moved on to, Highpoint Church, where he minimized his actions, exaggerated his response, and kept on framing it as “an incident that happened 20-plus years ago.” Because of the statute of limitations, he cannot be charged. Facing sustained pressure, he later resigned from the church, eventually acknowledging that his actions in the non-consensual sexual encounter were an “abuse of power.”
THE UNCARING SHEPHERD
Now comes the time of reckoning for Senior Pastor Steve Bradley, still the pastor of Stonebridge Church decades later.
Woodson has reached out multiple times to Bradley, who has steadfastly refused to respond to her or even acknowledge her.
The only public statement Bradley has ever made is a comment in the Houston Chronicle, saying that the Church was “heartbroken 20 years ago when this happened and we remain heartbroken,” but was clear that it is “simply not accurate” to say “that I or anyone else on the staff at StoneBridge Church participated in a conspiracy to cover-up this sexual misconduct.”
So heartbroken that he has refused to talk to her or contact her in any way, shape, or form, despite her reaching out to him multiple times across multiple channels?
Again, he did not report it to the police, did not tell the congregation the nature of it, sought to keep him on, and sought to bring him back after he acts were exposed.
In 2019 she sent this letter to Bradley, which he has not responded to or acknowledged (please click the link to read in full), where she details the hurt she’s experienced that he’s never once contacted her or responded to her, despite the story going national. She says:
Your lack of compassion towards me as I have tried to seek closure and healing for the physical, emotional, and spiritual abuse I suffered as a member of your congregation has been reprehensible. This was my church and you, Larry, and Andy were my pastors and spiritual leaders…I trusted you all. You have no idea the despair, isolation, and self-devastation I’ve experienced because I was thrown under the bus, not just for Andy’s sake, but for your sake, and the reputation of the church.”
She asks him some questions that she has been struggling with for for a long time:
Why did you not immediately call the police when you learned of my abuse?
Were you/are you aware that in the state of Texas, clergy are mandated reporters of child sexual abuse?
Why did you not immediately pull Andy from his position on staff when I first reported my abuse?
Why did you allow Andy to resign instead of firing him?
Why were you not transparent and honest with the congregation that Andy had sexually abused a minor in the youth group?
Why did you, nor anyone on staff, ever reach out to me after I reported the abuse to offer support, help, or to ask me what I wanted and needed?
Why did you allow and/or think it was appropriate to throw Andy a going away party at the church?
And then she makes one final plea:
Though you have refused to respond to other people’s attempts to dialogue with you regarding the ways you have mishandled my abuse, my prayer is that by reaching out to you personally, you will finally choose to handle things differently. I have been deeply wounded by your words and actions from 20 years ago and continuing to this day. I sincerely request that you respond to my inquiries not only with honesty but with empathy as well.
Bradley never answered.
THE CREDENTIALS COMMITTEE
In 2019, the Southern Baptist Convention put on the Caring Well conference. This was done with the stated goal of responding to and hearing from sexual abuse survivors, along with announcing the formation of a new branch of the Credentials Committee (CC) dedicated to dealing with allegations of sexual abuse. JD Greear wept tears from the stage, his voice shaky, promising to do better.
They told survivors they wanted to hear their stories, and that they could trust the SBC would respond accordingly, with the ERLC’s Russell Moore saying, “We think this is going to be a hugely beneficial move in terms of empowering Southern Baptists to act with accountability and transparency on these matters.”
Despite Jules Woodson being arguably the most well-known face of abuse in the evangelical church and in the SBC, she was not invited to speak.
Instead, in keeping with the SBC’s 11th Commandment, all the women brought on stage did not report their abuser and did not name them. One wasn’t even a member of the SBC, but rather the OPC. In short, they didn’t invite anyone who reported their Baptist abuser.
After the announcement of the new committee, Woodson submitted her case, being one of the most visible SBC victims. After all, two pastors had to resign over what happened to her, with one of them acknowledging his complicity in the cover-up. For this reason, she was sure they would look into it. She got an email back saying that they had received her email, and inquired if she had further questions.
Upon hearing that the CC was investigating 16 Churches, Jules Woodson asked if Stonebridge and Steve Bradley were on that list. She received a response back from Christy Peters, telling her that the CC isn’t designed to “investigate” but rather “inquire,” and that the status of an ‘investigation’ was private, even to those reporting. It ended with Peters inviting her to submit any churches she feels she must. Which she had already done.
This revelation confirms that the Credentials Committee is a bureaucratic nightmare, with the one submitting not even being told if they plan to do anything with his/her information, or to what degree they have or will follow up. Furthermore, they are essentially toothless when it comes to what power they wield and what change they can bring about, due to the constraints of their purpose. In an article on the ERLC website: A guide to understanding the Credentials Committee proposal, this is made plain.
A year passes.
Nothing.
She does not hear from them and no one contacts her about it.
Woodson assumes that nothing came out of it, with no much time passing and no follow-up. It wouldn’t take a whole year to ascertain the truth here, would it, with so much ink being spilled about it?
THE DAMNABLE LETTER
On November 16, a year after her submission, 2020, Jules Woodson received the following letter from Mike Lawson, chair of the Credentials Committee.
Parts bolded by us.
Dear Ms. Woodson,
The Credentials Committee desires to reach out to you personally and inform you of our decision regarding Stonebridge Church. As we have not been able to connect via phone or Zoom, please receive this letter in the spirit from which it was drafted: to sincerely thank you and inform you. Thank you for your patience as we have worked and prayed our way through this process.
First, we wish to thank you. Thank you for being willing to share your story and for drawing attention to the need for churches to make an intentional effort to prevent abuse and to care well for victims of sexual abuse. Thank you for the effort it took to provide us with all the information regarding your abuse. It helped provide an understanding of what you experienced and continue to face as a result. We want you to know that we read and grieved over the information available to us including: your blog, articles, and your interview with the New York Times that we watched in its entirety. We prayed for you and all the victims, and, more recently, for you and your mother as you care for her in these difficult days. Thank you, for your boldness and courage in coming forward with your story.We believe that you and others like you are making a difference in how churches respond to reports of sexual abuse and helping them create intentional policies and practices that will help prevent such things in the future.
Your story has been a particular force in transformative change at Stonebridge Church. In recent years, they have taken significant and extensive steps to improve policies, practices, and procedures to better serve their people. These steps are set up to offer increased protections and improved responses to reports.
Our committee has considered the information available to us regarding StoneBridge Church’s relationship with the Southern Baptist Convention. Our committee’s assignment as outlined in SBC Bylaw 8[1], is to consider the current relationship between a church and the Convention. Neither our committee nor the Southern Baptist Convention has any authority over another Baptist body as stated in Article IV [2] of the SBC Constitution. This committee’s role is to determine if a church is in friendly cooperation with the Convention and make a recommendation to the Executive Committee when we determine a church is not currently in friendly cooperation with the Convention as described in Article III [3] of the SBC Constitution. At this time, we do not have any information that causes us to conclude that the church does not have a faith and practice which closely identifies with the Convention’s adopted statement of faith, and we have determined that StoneBridge Church be removed from inquiry.
While the nine of us on this committee have a very limited and specific task, we care about you and other survivors. We requested and have been granted access to trauma-informed counselors. If you think they might be of any help to you as you continue your healing journey, we will gladly connect you to them. We know that receiving this information may be difficult, and we are sorry for any pain it may cause.
Sincerely, The SBC Credentials Committee
We here at Protestia see a few things worthy of mention. The CC claimed to have “tried” to contact Jules Woodson via phone and Zoom, yet Jules has NO record of any such attempt. No one called her. No one questioned her further. No one called to get more details or information. Nothing.
Furthermore, the committee had her email address from when she submitted her grievance and corresponded with Christy Peters, and yet Woodson received no emails. That they would not speak to her about this at all is unconscionable.
The Committee further stated that they read her blog, yet she has no blog.
They affirm that Stonebridge has been “transformed” due to her story, and yet the Pastor has refused to talk to her or acknowledge it and the SBC’s most famous victim. All this while protesting they did not cover up the sexual abuse, despite that being both demonstrably and factually false. How is refusing to speak to or acknowledge victims evidence of “transformation”?
Why should anyone believe Stonebridge would handle new sex-abuse claims in a serious manner, rather than just cover them up, if to this day the Senior Pastor insisted that they did nothing wrong 20 years ago? He was legally obligated to report it to the police and he buried it instead.
Ultimately the Credential Committee is saying that one can be in “cooperation with the SBC” despite having a proven track record of permitting and covering up sexual abuse, so long as they affirm the Baptist Faith and Message 2000. At this point it seems clear that there is no sexual abuse case that could be reported to the Committee that would result in a church being declared not in friendly co-operation with the convention.
THE NEWEST INFORMATION
Jules Woodson shared this on Twitter last week., about her ongoing issues with the Credentials Committee.
I am so livid at the SBC Credentials Committee right now I could scream!!!
Yesterday, a fellow advocate and friend, @writer_dee, spoke with Mike Lawson and Stacey Bramlett via a Zoom meeting on my behalf. One of the purposes for the meeting was to address their massive failures regarding my submission…Specifically their lack of communication and failure to speak with me.
Stacey made a point to say that their decision is final…that it’s too late to go back and change anything. I find this to be extremely disturbing considering they really don’t seem to know what they are doing. Remember, they never once made an effort to speak with me regarding my submission even though they claimed to have done so!!!
What training and/or guidance do they have in evaluating abuse in the church and cover-up, and how it relates to a church being in good standing with the SBC, as well as communicating/listening to survivors?
They then proceeded to tell Dee Ann that the reason they had such difficulty in making a decision regarding Stonebridge was because they never received an actual submission from me, it came from someone else so their hands were tied, so to speak.
This is completely false as well. I personally sent a submission by mail and received an email a short time later that confirmed they received my submission. [Editor’s Note. See included picture.]
After the call Mike sends a short email to Dee Ann stating…’Thank you for your time. I spoke in error. It was in fact Jules who submitted to the Credentials Committee. My apologies.’
Is this a joke?!?! They had just spent all this time explaining to Dee Ann about how they were put in an ‘awkward position’ regarding Stonebridge yet their entire statement was based on erroneous information as it WAS me who presented the request.
They further admitted to basing their decision on the information they received after speaking with the church, yet they never once made an effort to speak with me!! Are you kidding??? They trust the church and pastor that covered up my abuse when I originally reported and who continues to deny wrongdoing or respond to my questions to this day???
Even after the Associate Pastor has admitted it was abuse – that it should have been reported to the police, and has since stepped down from any position of authority in his current church?
In summary, the SBC Credentials Committee is a total sham. They are NOT a safe resource for ANY survivor!!! They have lied on multiple occasions. They don’t know their head from their ass and certainly can’t keep their stories straight. They have ZERO training in how to do their jobs in any capacity and perhaps don’t even know what their job is. SBC YOU MUST DO BETTER!!!
This is a terrible injustice. The Credentials Committee has botched and mishandled this case for over a year now, and they are continuing to drop the ball. Not only dropping it, but punting it clear out of sight. We pray it’s out of incompetence and not out of maliciousness, but at the rate it’s going, we can’t be sure.
What we do know, is if this is how they are going to handle things they CANNOT be trusted with other victims and other churches and ought to be thoroughly and publicly repudiated.
We ask that you retweet this article and tag all these individuals, as well as anyone else you can think of, and keep on doing it until they listen.
(The Houston Chronicle) The church pastored by Southern Baptist Convention President J.D. Greear announced Wednesday that an outside firm will review the recent hiring of a pastor accused of mishandling sex abuses a decade ago.
The review of Bryan Loritts comes six months after he was hired at Greaar’s Summit Church in Raleigh, N.C., and after months of criticism from sexual abuse survivors.
Among the critics were those with whom Greear and other Summit leaders have worked closely as the SBC continues to confront sexual abuses detailed in a 2019 Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News investigation, Abuse of Faith.
In 2010, the worship director at Loritts’ Memphis, Tenn., church was accused of recording at least one person as they used the restroom. The man, Rick Trotter, was at the time Loritts’ brother-in-law and the announcer for the NBA team Memphis Grizzlies. Trotter was terminated from that position soon after, but moved to another nearby church.
After he was charged with multiple counts of voyeurism in 2016, the churches released a joint statement in which they said they “openly discussed Trotter’s prior sexual misconduct and the counseling he attended for sexual addiction,” according to media reports.
Loritts has since said he regrets some of his actions, but that he only spoke to two victims…
