What would accountability look like?

Last week, an Episcopal bishop was suspended from ministry for failing to report the 1973 abuse of a 14-year old girl by a lay-minister.

The bishop, who was a rector at the time, is not accused of having committed any abuse himself. Nevertheless, the Episcopals are taking action because he kept quiet about another minister’s abuse.

They’re holding him accountable.

What would THAT be like in Southern Baptist circles? Can you even imagine it?

Southern Baptist leaders typically don’t take any action even against reported perpetrators, and they sure aren’t doing anything to hold accountable all the ministers who have kept quiet about clergy sex abuse.

Here are the allegations against the Episcopal bishop: (1) He didn’t provide pastoral care to the 14-year old; (2) He didn’t inform the girl’s parents (until several years later); (3) He didn’t report the abuse to anyone else; (4) He didn’t investigate whether there might be other victims. He is accused of having reacted “passively and self-protectively.”

If Southern Baptists held their leaders accountable for this kind of “passive, self-protective” conduct, a whole lot of church and denominational leaders would face consequences.

For starters, the most obvious one would be Steve Gaines. He kept quiet about a known, confessed clergy child-molester, and to this day, Gaines stands in the pulpit at Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis. He has NOT been held accountable.

Then there’s Jim Moore, the music minister who kept quiet about my own clergy perpetrator, even after the perpetrator himself talked about the abuse, and even after I talked about it. Moore allowed that man to go right on working in children’s ministry at other churches. And like the Episcopal minister, he didn’t provide any pastoral care, didn’t inform my parents, didn’t report the abuse, and didn’t investigate whether there might be other victims. Yet, Moore is still the music minister at FBC-Farmers Branch. He has NOT been held accountable.

And remember James Crittenden? He’s the Denton minister who knew about Pastor Larry Reynolds’ reported abuse of a kid and tried to keep it quiet. Crittenden has NOT been held accountable. Of course, Crittenden’s congregation is about as blind as they get. After extensive media coverage prompted Reynold’s resignation, the congregation gave him a $50,000 “love-offering” as a send-off and named a building after him.

And let’s not forget that leaders at the Baptist General Convention of Texas knew there was “substantial evidence” a minister had abused a kid, and yet they didn’t bother to tell people in the pews where the minister was currently working. They kept that information quiet…along with the names of all the other ministers who are in their secret file of clergy sex abusers. Accountability? I don’t think the BGCT knows the meaning of the word.

Accountability isn’t exactly Southern Baptists’ strong suit, is it?

In fact, “passive and self-protective” seems to be the generally accepted norm of behavior for Southern Baptist leaders when it comes to clergy sex abuse. Compare the Episcopals’ action with the typical Baptist “hush-it-up” pattern.

What would it be like if Southern Baptist president Frank Page showed the same sort of moral courage and commitment that was shown by the Episcopals’ highest leader?

Even if Page can’t actually discipline ministers, what would it be like if he used the Baptist Press to publicly denounce ministers for their conduct of keeping quiet about sexual abuse?

Don’t Southern Baptist kids deserve the same kind of protection that Episcopal kids have? It’s the sort of protection that’s provided by a faith community that actually holds its leaders accountable when they turn a blind eye to sexual abuse.