BishopAccountability.org

SBC leader’s tweet renews scrutiny of pastor’s past and shows limits of sex abuse reforms, say activists

By Robert Downen And Sarah Smith
HoustChronicle
January 31, 2020

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/SBC-leader-s-tweet-renews-scrutiny-of-15021204.php

People talk before a panel discussion about sexual abuse and the Southern Baptist Convention, on the eve of the SBC's annual meeting on Monday, June 10, 2019, in Birmingham.
Photo by Jon Shapley

Three decades after he was sued for sexual misconduct, pastor Terry Smith is again facing public scrutiny.

This time it’s from abuse survivors and activists who say Smith’s continued ministry, following a judge’s ruling that his conduct was “improper and outrageous,” shows the limitations of the Southern Baptist Convention’s efforts to combat sexual abuse.

The renewed attention to Smith started with former SBC President Paige Patterson tweeting earlier this month that Smith’s congregation, Victory Baptist Church in the Dallas suburb of Rowlett, had honored him as a “defender of the faith.”

Many abuse survivors and activists quickly denounced the decision to recognize Patterson, citing his recent ouster as president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary over his handling of multiple abuse claims.

Attention then turned to Smith, who has a record of abuse allegations and was sued by a woman who said he took advantage of counseling sessions to sexually abuse her. Critics asked why that history — easily available by googling his name — hadn’t kept him and others with similar histories out of Baptist pulpits.

Neither Smith nor Victory responded to repeated requests for comment this week. Victory joined the Southern Baptist of Texas Convention in 2007, before Smith was pastor, according to a group spokesman, who said he was not aware of the allegations until the Chronicle sought comment.

Reviews of churches’ fitness for membership can be prompted by media reports. But Gary Ledbetter, the spokesman, said it is against policy to confirm whether there are open “inquiries.”

Rachael Denhollander, a lawyer who was the first person to publicly accuse now-imprisoned USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nasser, said it was concerning that Smith and the church may have escaped scrutiny had it not been for Patterson’s social media post.

That, she said, shows what can go wrong when Baptists don’t hold one another accountable or aren’t transparent about abuse allegations.

“If you don’t have information, you can’t do anything,” she said.

Historically, like all of SBC’s 47,000 autonomous and self-governing churches, Victory has been free to host, hire or ordain whomever it wants as pastor, provided the candidates are neither gay or female, both of whom are ineligible, according to SBC rules.

But in June, thousands of delegates from SBC churches approved language that also would bar churches with leaders who’ve been convicted or credibly accused of sexual misconduct. The faith group also empowered a committee to make “inquiries” into any church’s handing of abuse and, if needed, refer them to leaders, who would then decide whether to oust the church from the SBC.

Activists such as Denhollander, who also advises SBC leaders on abuse reforms, have said the measures are a good first step, but that more needs to be done.

This week, Denhollander called on the SBC to consider creating a third-party database that would maintain a list of allegations against church leaders. The convention in 2008 rejected such a proposal, citing local church autonomy as a hurdle.

Denhollander argues that autonomy does not relieve Baptists of “the requirement to keep your brothers accountable.”

“Communication between churches is a very Biblical concept,” she said. “Vetting your elders is a very Biblical concept. Having an informed congregation is a very Biblical concept.”

The SBC reform efforts followed a Chronicle investigation, Abuse of Faith, that found hundreds of Southern Baptist church leaders and volunteers had been criminally convicted of sex crimes. The investigation also revealed dozens of instances in which accused predators remained in the pulpit or found work at other churches.

A recent Fort Worth Star-Telegram investigation found similar issues at many independent fundamental Baptist churches that also practice local church autonomy.

Smith first faced misconduct complaints in the late 1980s as pastor of Canyon Creek Baptist Church, an IFB church. They came from numerous women, according to Dallas County court records and news reports at the time.

In 1988, one woman filed a lawsuit in which she accused Smith of using counseling sessions to repeatedly have sex with her. Such behavior was legal at the time in Texas.

A judge later ruled in the woman’s favor, writing that Smith’s actions were “improper and outrageous conduct and (a) breach of common and lawful standards of moral turpitude,” court records show. Still, she won only a small amount of money from the suit.

In 2012, Smith became Victory’s lead pastor, according to his LinkedIn page.

One IFB pastor said it’s not surprising pastors with problematic pasts alternate between churches of the two faith groups given they share similar beliefs and both are decentralized.

“Say a man burns his bridges in the independent Baptist church and everybody knows everybody,” said Maryland IFB pastor Stacey Shiflett. “All he’s gotta do is start hanging out with SBC people and in most cases, you get a fresh start because they don’t really interact. You’re virtually an unknown.”

Shiflett, also an abuse survivor, said both faith groups are doing “a lousy job of vetting their pastors. A lousy job.”

Those shortcomings don’t just put people in danger — they unfairly burden survivors of abuse, said activist and abuse survivor Christa Brown.

Brown spent years contacting churches about her former pastor, armed with civil court records and a church apology letter over the handling of her abuse.

Yet few people listened, Brown said. She continues to push for SBC leaders to adopt reforms, but says the broader culture needs to change so survivors won’t pay a high price for disclosing abuse.

Until state and local Baptist leaders are more vigilant of who is pastoring nearby congregations, Brown said, the burden will fall on survivors or journalists to track and raise awareness about predatory church leaders.

“The entire burden fell on me,” she said. “And sometimes I still wonder, ‘Was it worth the enormous angst that it required?’ … It is beyond exhausting.”

Contact: robert.downen@chron.com




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