New State Law Hailed in Fight against Sex Abuse in Churches

By Bob Campbell
Odessa American
November 2, 2019

https://www.news-journal.com/features/new-state-law-hailed-in-fight-against-sex-abuse-in/article_0fd8f64c-fc5b-11e9-a0f8-8bf1e248fc27.html

ODESSA — In its annual meeting that concluded here this week, the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention passed a resolution thanking the state Legislature for a new law protecting churches from civil liability when disclosing information about sexual predators.

Convention Communications Director Gary Ledbetter of Grapevine said House Bill 4345 lets churches and their staff members and volunteers provide much more than just the dates of employment when answering inquiries about former employees. That information will help in the fight against sex abuse in churches.

“It will keep somebody who was accused of child abuse or sexual abuse from going from church to church,” Ledbetter said.

The resolution says God “abhors violence against the weak and defenseless and calls his people to defend the hurt and oppressed, to stand for justice and to deliver victims of abuse from the hands of their oppressors.”

Attended by 772 messengers, or delegates, and 257 guests, the three-day event featured prominent ministers, including a video address by Paul Chitwood, president of the Richmond, Virginia,-based International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, and Adam Greenway, new president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, among others.

Delegates elected new officers: President Kie Bowman of Austin, Vice President Tony Mathews of Garland and Secretary Frances Garcia of Odessa, widow of the late Rev. Eloy Garcia.

The organization’s annual budget of $28.8 million also was approved.

Ledbetter said the meeting had been in West Texas every four years, having been in Amarillo once and Lubbock twice, since the convention was formed in 1998, because most member churches are east of I-35 and West Texas pastors may develop a sense of isolation.

“I know these pastors are pleased to come to the meeting without driving clear across the state,” Ledbetter said. “It’s a chance for them to come together and remember why it is that we work together in the first place. Pastors in small towns in West Texas sometimes work in isolation and the meeting is a chance for them to make new friendships and hear somebody else preach.

“People seem more excited about us here than they do in East Texas,” he added. “They bent over backwards to help us and we’ve had a warm fellowship.”

Other resolutions

One of the other approved resolutions commends the first responders to mass shootings Aug. 31 in Odessa and Aug. 3 El Paso, in which “There were numerous acts of heroism and courage, including the selfless placing of law enforcement officers between the shooters and the citizenry,” the measure said.

Another recognizes that church pastors and members may struggle with emotional issues and says that, “As ambassadors for Christ we will show compassion, love and empathy toward those who struggle with mental health disorders and oppose the attachment of any stigma to them.”

“People are sometimes hesitant to get help and we counsel them to get help when they need it,” Ledbetter said.

There also was a resolution on racial reconciliation and one denouncing the so-called “prosperity Gospel.”

The measure on race says in part that every person “regardless of ethnicity, age or gender possesses full dignity, value and equality.”

Noting that there are almost 400 ethno-linguistic groups in Texas, it says, “We express our love for all people of every ethnicity, condemn prejudice as unworthy of the people of God and an offense to the image of God, condemn any action that is racist in nature or intent and encourage churches to foster an atmosphere of reconciliation among the races.”

The one on the prosperity doctrine, which holds that divine healing and financial wealth are the automatic rights of those who believe in Jesus, says ministers who espouse it “often use their positions as a means for personal gain and luxurious living.

“The prosperity Gospel is the corruption of the Biblical doctrines of suffering and the sovereignty of God, leaving those experiencing suffering in a hopeless state of doubt regarding God’s favor toward them in Christ Jesus,” it says.