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.
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.