It's been decades in the making for many abuse survivors, but now the nation's largest evangelical denomination is in a season of reckoning as it deals with the fallout out from the explosive independent investigation of 2022 into mishandled sex abuse allegations among Southern Baptist leaders. Will there be courage among denominational leadership to face these failures and do the hard work of reform? In this limited series podcast, advocate and attorney Rachael Denhollander and investigative reporter Robert Downen join filmmaker and host Carolyn McCulley to discuss this critical moment.
It's been decades in the making for many abuse survivors, but now the nation's largest evangelical denomination is in a season of reckoning as it deals with the fallout out from the explosive independent investigation of 2022 into mishandled sex abuse allegations among Southern Baptist leaders. Will there be courage among denominational leadership to face these failures and do the hard work of reform? In this limited series podcast, advocate and attorney Rachael Denhollander and investigative reporter Robert Downen join filmmaker and host Carolyn McCulley to discuss this critical moment.
Reeling from the bombshell investigation of its leadership, the Southern Baptist Convention of churches gathered in mid-June, 2022 for their annual meeting to hear the SBC's Sexual Abuse Task Force give a report and a rebuke. Though the convention did overwhelmingly vote for the recommended reforms, the vocal opposition from a conservative faction of the denomination was significant.
Now there is outside pressure, too. After this episode was recorded, the SBC announced the US Department of Justice is investigating all of its entities regarding sexual abuse.
In this episode, journalists Robert Downen (@RobDownenChron), Kate Shellnutt (@kateshellnutt), and Bob Smietana (@bobsmietana) join host Carolyn McCulley to discuss the progress so far and the hurdles to real reform in the SBC.
This podcast is a production of Citygate Films. It was produced and edited by Carolyn McCulley. Music is by Kevin Graham.
What did the explosive Guidepost report reveal about the abuse crisis in the Southern Baptist Convention? Rachael Denhollander and Robert Downen join Carolyn McCulley to analyze the report and its footnotes. Rachael talks about the work of the SBC's Sexual Abuse Task Force, how she and survivor Christa Brown repeatedly asked for a database of credibly accused predators and were told it wasn't possible, and what being trauma informed looks like. Rob talks about the wealth of information that was found in the footnotes and what's still not there. The conversation was recorded on Monday, May 23, 2022, a day after the report was released.
The Guidepost report and its appendices can be found on the SBC's Sexual Abuse Task Force site.
Initial reporting on the Guidepost report can be found with Religion News Service, the Houston Chronicle, the Tennessean, and the Washington Post, among others.
The trauma-informed consultants referenced in this episode are Curo Consulting Group.
This podcast is a production of Citygate Films. It was produced and edited by Carolyn McCulley. Music is by Kevin Graham.
For decades, a weary group of sex abuse survivors have unsuccessfully tried to get the Southern Baptist Convention to report and remove sexual predators within their churches. Now they wait for the report from an independent investigation into 20 years of mishandled sexual abuse allegations among Southern Baptist leadership. Documentary filmmaker and host Carolyn McCulley talks with advocate Rachael Denhollander and investigative reporter Robert Downen about why this investigation was necessary and why the denomination is facing a season of reckoning.
CORRECTIONS: The resolution on abuse and pastoral qualifications was actually Resolution 5, not Resolution 21. The constitutional amendments for pastoral qualifications passed in 2021, not 2019.
A Citygate Films Production. Produced and edited by Carolyn McCulley. Music by Kevin Graham.