HOUSTON (TX)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
POSTED BY DAVID CLOHESSY ON JUNE 07, 2013
Victims ask to speak at SBC convention in Houston
Group deplores “rallying around” alleged predators
It wants Baptist church officials to train their staff and flocks
SNAP: “There’s a right way & a wrong way to act when ministers are accused”
Clergy sex abuse victims are asking to speak to thousands of Baptists next week in Houston about how church staff and members respond when allegations of clergy sex crimes and cover ups surface.
Leaders of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, are writing officials with the Southern Baptist Convention hoping for a chance to address their annual convention which begins this weekend. SNAP leaders say that congregants and clergy often “immediately and publicly rally for an accused child molester instead of keeping an open mind and urging anyone with information to come forward.” Then, SNAP contends, “Victims, witnesses and whistleblowers are frightened or depressed and stay silent. And as a result, all too often, those who commit and conceal child sex crimes walk free, remain hidden, and hurt others.”
The group cites three congregations at which it says church employees or board members publicly rallied or are rallying behind accused wrongdoers: Prestonwood Baptist Church in Texas, Sovereign Grace Ministries in Maryland, and The Richmond Outreach Center in Virginia.
“Many Baptist pastors offer their staff and their flocks absolutely no training on how to act when church folks are accused of abuse,” said Amy Smith, Houston SNAP Director. “Even worse, many times ministers themselves take insensitive or hurtful actions, by backing the accused and intimidating the accusers.”
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