BIRMINGHAM (AL)
Associated Press
June 13, 2019
By David Crary and Jay Reeves
Sharing a stage with tearful survivors of sex abuse, the president of the Southern Baptist Convention apologized Wednesday for the abuse crisis besetting his denomination and outlined an array of steps to address it.
“We are broken-hearted and angry,” said the Rev. J.D. Greear as the largest U.S. protestant denomination neared the end of its two-day national meeting. “Give us the courage to make the changes that genuine repentance requires.”
In an impassioned speech, preceded by prayers of lamentation, Greear blamed the crisis on years of cover-ups. He praised a new anti-abuse curriculum is being offered to all SBC churches and seminaries, and he said the SBC must do better in screening potential pastors.
“Father, forgive us,” he prayed after calling out a litany of sins.
The Rev. Russell Moore, head of the SBC’s public policy arm, said the abuse crisis is a result of satanic forces at work in the church.
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