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Southern Baptist leader resigns amid abuse review division
By HOLLY MEYER
today
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A top Southern Baptist Convention administrator is resigning after weeks of internal division over how best to handle an investigation into the denomination’s response to sexual abuse reports.
Ronnie Floyd, president and CEO of the SBC’s Executive Committee, announced his departure Thursday in a statement critical of recent decisions related to the third-party review that is getting underway. He said he will leave the post at the end of the month.
“Due to my personal integrity and the leadership responsibility entrusted to me, I will not and cannot any longer fulfill the duties placed upon me as the leader of the executive, fiscal, and fiduciary entity of the SBC,” Floyd said.
"My personal integrity!" Is it just me or does that sound like pride?
An investigative firm funded by the Executive Committee is conducting the review of allegations that the committee mishandled abuse reports and mistreated survivors. Following multiple meetings and mounting pressure from across the convention, a divided Executive Committee voted Oct. 5 to waive its attorney-client privilege for the probe, agreeing to turn over legally protected records to investigators.
Supporters of the waiver said it fulfilled a key demand of thousands of Southern Baptist delegates who set the third-party review into motion. Opponents said it could jeopardize the convention’s insurance policies and was financially risky.
In his statement, Floyd said the Executive Committee has been committed to the review, but it could have been done “without creating these potential risks relating to the Convention’s liability.”
This is disgraceful! Worrying about the Convention's fiscal liability rather than their responsibility to sexually abused children and surviving adults. They should also be worried about their responsibilities to God and be planning a major convention-wide mass repentance for these failures. Floyd is right to step down, but not for the right reasons.
For years, the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S. has been grappling with a sex abuse scandal. It came under heightened scrutiny following a 2019 report by the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News, documenting hundreds of cases of abuse in Southern Baptist churches, including several in which alleged perpetrators remained in ministry.
How is their response to child sexual abuse significantly different from the Catholic Church?
Former Presbyterian minister who admitted child sexual image
charges loses court bid for anonymity
Staff Reporter
November 08 2021 06:21 PM
Belfast Telegraph
A former Presbyterian minister has lost his court bid for anonymity in respect of child sexual image charges, which he has admitted.
He can now be named as Matthew Simpson (69), whose address continues to show on court papers as his former manse, although he has moved to Antrim.
In September, his lawyers applied for anonymity at Dungannon Magistrates Court on the basis he could self-harm if publicly named.
Wife of Former Hillsong NYC Pastor Carl Lentz Details
Struggle with PTSD, Depression following Husband's Affair
Milton Quintanilla |
Contributor for ChristianHeadlines.com |
Monday, November 15, 2021
“It may not mean much to you, but this past year was a doozy for our family. I have dealt with so much personally, I have never experienced anxiety or PTSD until this year!” Laura Lentz wrote on Instagram. “I have struggled with a mild depression for many years, but this year it got to be so bad that there were days I didn’t want to get out of bed... although I wouldn’t wish my journey on my worst enemy (I apparently have a few), I would not change my story!!
“I know as I continue on my journey of healing, learning to put myself first, focus on my family and grow in my marriage, I can use my story so far to help someone else! Don’t get me wrong, it’s not easy, every day I feel the trauma, the thoughts and memories. And geez am I grateful for my therapists!” she added.
Laura Lentz sitting in front of an art piece, Lentz describes her mental health issues following her husbands affair
Do you suppose her taste in men is anything like her taste in art?
Carl Lentz, who led Hillsong campuses across the East Coast, was best known as a celebrity pastor due to his friendships with celebrities, including Justin Bieber, whom he once mentored.
Last November, he was fired from the global evangelical megachurch due to moral failures and leadership issues. Lentz, who led Hillsong NYC from 2010 to 2020, later revealed he cheated on his wife.
Ranin Karim, a designer in NY, alleged that she had been involved in a months-long affair with the former pastor. Lentz reportedly only broke it off with Karim after his wife discovered his infidelity.
Following Lentz’s firing, Hillsong launched an investigation into the “inner workings” of Hillsong NYC.
In May of this year, Laura Lentz broke her silence on social media for the first time since the scandal broke. Using a picture of palm trees, she described what she had been facing during this challenging season of her life.
“They are strong, can weather the biggest storms, they always grow upwards. Freedom, righteousness, reward, resurrection just to name a few,” she wrote at the time.
In her post, Laura shared that she had to step away from social media because it “was not good for my soul.” Additionally, Lentz noted that she blocked and deleted more people “than I can count,” including comments, from her account because of the backlash.
“Trolls are cowards, SOME ‘Christians’ are anything but kind, gracious, or loving … but that won’t stop me from growing upwards & getting stronger.” she asserted.
The things we are going through are either making us sweeter, better, and nobler men and women, or they are making us more critical and fault-finding, and more insistent on our own way. My Utmost for His Highest - May 22nd.
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