CBF not immune from abuse, leader says, but isn’t saddled with patriarchal theology of the SBC

NASHVILLE (TN)
Baptist News Global

June 21, 2019

By Bob Allen

The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship is paying heed to a major sexual abuse crisis engulfing its estranged sibling, the Southern Baptist Convention, an official said June 20 during a report of the CBF Governing Board.

“Like last year, our General Assembly coincides with the Southern Baptist Convention, who were here in this very space this time last week,” past moderator Shauw Chin Capps said during a business session of the 2019 CBF General Assembly in Birmingham, Alabama.

“In light of what has transpired in the SBC as they find themselves in the spotlight dealing with the aftermath of decades of sexual abuse and coverup involving 700 victims and over 200 sexual abusers, I would be remiss not to say a few words about this.”

Capps, former CEO of a non-profit organization serving victims of child abuse, domestic violence and sexual assault, said there are two lessons the 1,800-church group that separated from the SBC in the 1990s over issues including women’s equality can learn from recent newspaper reports documenting widespread sexual abuse in the nation’s second-largest faith group behind Roman Catholics.

“Number one, we are not immune to the problem of sexual abuse in our churches and organizations,” said Capps, now a consultant for an executive search firm. “I know this firsthand, so we do not gloat and pretend that this is not happening within CBF life. We acknowledge our brokenness and the need for repentance and for increased efforts at all levels to prevent sexual abuse of children and adults.”

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