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Southern Baptist Executive Committee Agrees to a Resolution
with Jennifer Lyell
Bob Smietana |
Religion News Service |
Wednesday, February 23, 2022
SBC Facility, SBEC agrees to a resolution with Jennifer Lyell
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (RNS) — Southern Baptist leaders announced Tuesday (Feb. 22) that they had reached a resolution with a sexual abuse survivor whose story was mishandled when she came forward in 2019.
Jennifer Lyell, a former publishing executive for Lifeway Christian Resources, told Baptist Press in 2019 that she had experienced abuse for years at the hands of a former Southern Baptist seminary professor. She made her story public out of concerns her abuser was still in ministry outside the Southern Baptist Convention.
Instead, the abuse was characterized in a news story as a “morally inappropriate relationship.” As a result of the backlash from that news story — for which Baptist Press, the official SBC news service, later apologized —Lyell lost her reputation, her job and her health.
Pastor Rolland Slade, chairman of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee, announced the resolution and an apology to Lyell during an afternoon meeting. The Lyell resolution was approved by the entire committee.
“The SBC Executive Committee acknowledges its failure to adequately listen, protect and care for Jennifer Lyell when she came forward to share her story of abuse by a seminary professor. Baptist Press failed to accurately report the sexual abuse Jennifer Lyell reported to two SBC entities and local Southern Baptist churches,” Slade said in a statement Tuesday.
“The SBC Executive Committee acknowledges its failures to Ms. Lyell, including the unintentional harm created by its failure to report Ms. Lyell’s allegations of nonconsensual sexual abuse were investigated and unequivocally corroborated by the SBC entities with authority over Ms. Lyell and her abuser. The SBC Executive Committee apologizes for all the hurt it has caused, is grateful for Ms. Lyell’s perseverance and engagement, and prays for her complete healing from the trauma she has endured,” he said.
Lyell told Religion News Service in 2021 that she wished she had never gone public about her abuse. Instead of receiving support and compassion, she found herself trying to convince critics she was not responsible for the abuse she had experienced.
“It takes years and years to recover from trauma, and no one should be in the position of having to explain it to the whole public while they’re still trying to do that,” she told RNS at the time.
The Executive Committee’s treatment of Lyell had long been a concern for abuse advocates. Baptist leaders were criticized in 2019 at a Caring Well conference organized by the SBC’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission for failing to make things right with Lyell. That led to backlash from former leaders of the Executive Committee.
Lyell said in a statement Tuesday that she had connected with Slade in the fall of 2021 about her ongoing dispute with the Executive Committee and potential legal claims. She met with attorneys for the Executive Committee and also shared her discussions with the Executive Committee as part of the Guidepost Solutions investigation into how the committee has responded to abuse in the past. She also acknowledged the pain and suffering of other abuse survivors who have not experienced the kind of resolution she has from the SBC.
In her statement, Lyell thanked Slade and other Executive Committee officers and members, as well as their attorneys, for taking action. She also accepted the committee’s apologies and thanked former Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission President Russell Moore and his wife, Maria, as well as attorney and abuse advocate Rachael Denhollander, for their friendship and support.
Yes, that's Rachael Denhollander the US Olympic gymnast, now author, lawyer, and winner of the Arthur Ashe Award for the courage to come back.
“As I’ve shared with those to whom I’ve been able to speak and to their lawyers, although this by no means restores what I’ve lost, I am grateful because it is the only action I could imagine that may at least make the ongoing damage stop,” she said. “My focus will now turn to my health and trying to build a future.”
Kanakuk issues new statement on camp child sex abuse;
survivor calls it 'disgusting'
"We're very let down by this open letter from Joe White," said a 34-year-old Branson man
who says he was abused by a former Kanakuk counselor
now in state prison serving two life sentences.
Gregory J. Holman
Springfield News-Leader
A basketball gym at Kanakuk.
Kanakuk camp near Branson, Missouri, went public late Friday with a new statement aiming to redefine its relationship with people who say they are survivors of sexual abuse that took place at the Christian summer camp.
For more than a decade, the camp has been under scrutiny for reports of sexual abuse. As the News-Leader reported in 2010, a charismatic former camp counselor, Peter Newman, pleaded guilty to sexually abusing boys and is now serving two life sentences in Missouri prisons, plus 30 years.
Eleven months ago, Kanakuk was again in the spotlight due to new reporting by journalists Nancy French and David French published by The Dispatch, a conservative-leaning news site. Much of their reporting focused on what camp leaders knew about Newman's behavior, and when, and how they responded once alerted to the abuse. Since then, people who identify as victims or family members have gone on television and other news outlets to express their concerns.
In their latest comments, Kanakuk leaders said they were "forever sorry for the pain inflicted on victims and their families" and that they "desire to support victims and help them in their healing journey."
The new comments had been expected for about a week, as an older statement dubbed "Our Response" had been taken down recently from the camp's website, with a promise to "update this page soon."
When that update went live around 5:45 p.m. Friday, it included a suggestion that abused former campers reach out to the camp via email or that they seek services from third-party organizations like RAINN, the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, founded in 1994.
In an open letter to victims attributed to camp owner Joe White, which was attached to the new statement, White also said that he had "learned that some victims feel muted and afraid to share their stories" and said he was "so sorry that we have added confusion and frustration when we have spoken on this topic."
Joe White, chief executive of Kanakuk camp in Branson, speaks to the Ozark Prayer Breakfast crowd
at the Ozark Community Center on May 6, 2010.
White also wrote, "By God's grace, I have had the opportunity to speak with several brave victims. Listening to the pain and anger is tearful, heart-wrenching, and humbling, but I am forever grateful for the privilege to share my sincere sorrow."
Those who identify as abuse survivors have said Kanakuk asked them to sign non-disclosure agreements as part of settlements. They have complained that these NDAs "silence" victims, who fear legal consequences if they make their experiences of sex abuse public.
White wrote in his open letter to victims posted Friday night, "The freedom to tell your story should not be a question — and to us, it’s not. I am opposed to any legal maneuver or action meant to suppress the voice of victims. Since most agreements involve insurance companies who may choose to defend their interests, you should keep the terms of your settlement confidential."
There is more to this article at the Springfield News-Leader.
Rest assured I am not accusing Steven Furtick of being a wolf in sheep's clothing here. However, I do see problems that might require his resignation to repair.
Elevation Church Pastor Steven Furtick under Fire
for Endorsing Teen Son's Explicit Music
Milton Quintanilla |
Contributor for ChristianHeadlines.com |
Wednesday, March 9, 2022
Elevation Church founder and senior Pastor Steven Furtick and his wife, Holly, recently came under fire online for supporting their teenage son's music, which includes references to sex, guns and excesses of money.
Last week, 16-year-old Elijah Furtick, a hip-hop artist whose stage name is "dothedash!" released his first album "Teen Machine."
The album begins with a 30-second introduction that states that the songs are a "genuine reflection of some dimension of the author's experience or personality" while also noting that most of the lyrical content reflects experiences that are "fictitious, exaggerated, tongue-in-cheek or otherwise wildly inaccurate."
Elijah Furtick's opening song, "No Hook," features references to oral sex, drinking Hennessy and his "bro" keeping a gun. The music video for the song has over 54,000 views on YouTube.
Following the album's release, Furtick praised his son for his hard work and called him an inspiration.
"The day you showed me your first Garage Band Mark Ronson rip-off beat, I saw the spark. Next came the obsession. You locked yourself away and taught yourself the intricacies of production and the basics of engineering," the megachurch pastor wrote in a lengthy Facebook post last Wednesday.
Furtick explained that Elijah also challenged himself to learn how to make tutorial videos for his YouTube channel. Ultimately, Furtick said his biggest inspiration was Elijah believing his voice, lyrics, and melodies were enough to create the project.
"This is the part that inspired me the most. Because even with autotune, letting your voice be heard, even by your own ears, is intimidating," Furtick said. "Most people can't even stand to hear their voice for 10 seconds on an old video on their phone. But you had the courage to conceptualize and execute an entire project – every 808, mix, & melody, you meticulously curated and created, selected and perfected."
Elijah's mother, Holly Furtick, told her son that she is "so proud of this project" in a comment on his work on Instagram.
According to The Christian Post, critics online expressed concern about the Furticks' endorsement of their son's music given its lyrical content.
"1 Timothy 3 says that one of the qualifications of a pastor are that ... 'He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity, but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?'" Pastor Keith Bell, an associate pastor and jail minister connected with Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia, asked in a Facebook post.
Bell contended that Furtick is disqualified from ministry for failing to run his house well, in addition to false teaching.
Ruslan KD, a San Diego hip hop artist and professing Christian, also shared his thoughts in a reaction video to Elijah's song "No Hook" on YouTube.
"I don't blame him [Elijah]. He's a kid. This is not his fault. This was cosigned by his mom. He posted it, and the mom was like, 'yeah!' endorsing it," Ruslan noted.
"It's not a good look to be flexing about money and about jewelry when your dad is a pastor … and there is nothing authentic about this," the rapper continued.
"The No. 1 value in this ecosystem of hip-hop is authenticity and being congruent. So when you have a song that's literally all hyperbolic nonsense of stuff that he's not living, this is bad for his career," Ruslan said.
Ruslan also shared that he tried to reach out to Furtick concerning his son, but the megachurch pastor allegedly blocked him on social media.
It's a very tough position to be in when a child or grandchild goes in a direction you might not be happy with. Is it then appropriate to approve of that direction? Is it even being honest? The cost of not so-doing might be too high a price to pay in terms of the immediate interpersonal relationship. But a pastor must weigh the effects of his approval upon his congregation. In this case, the numbers might be in the millions, not just the immediate congregation. Are these the values that Pastor Furtick wants the children attending Elevation to practice? If so, then, as Pastor Bell states, he should be disqualified from ministry.
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