‘Year of transition’ in SBC tops headlines
By Tobin Perry
Baptist Press
Paul Chitwood, seen here during a recent press conference, was elected president of the IMB last November. Chitwood is a Tennessee native and was reared in First Baptist Church, Jellico.
NASHVILLE — Southern Baptists marked a year of transitions at several national entities in 2019, and they launched an initiative to help churches care for individuals affected by sexual abuse and harassment.
These five news stories, selected by the editors of Baptist Press and a poll of Southern Baptist state publication editors, represent their picks as the most important stories of 2019:
- Southern Baptists take action to curb sexual abuse
In February, Southern Baptist leaders expressed brokenness over the findings of a series of Houston Chronicle articles focused on sex abuse in Southern Baptist Convention churches.
After 10 months of work, the Sexual Abuse Advisory Study initiated by SBC President J.D. Greear issued a 52-page report in hopes it would “spark a movement of healing and reform.”
The report called for the education of SBC churches to understand abuse and its impact, the equipping of SBC churches to care for abuse survivors, and the preparing of SBC churches to prevent abuse. Southern Baptists overwhelmingly approved bylaw and constitutional changes at the 2019 SBC annual meeting to specifically deal with systemic issues the report addressed. [Read more…]
