UNITED STATES
Associated Baptist Press
A preacher tainted by unproven allegations of covering up sexual abuse is returning to a Southern Baptist seminary campus after a convention resolution urged “discernment” about identifying with individuals perceived as being soft on pedophiles.
By Bob Allen
A Calvinist preacher named in a lawsuit alleging what has been termed the largest evangelical sex-abuse scandal to date is scheduled to speak at an upcoming collegiate conference on the campus of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.
C.J. Mahaney, pastor of Sovereign Grace Church in Louisville, Ky., is listed on the seminary website among plenary speakers for the 20/20 Collegiate Conference themed “Ekklesia: God’s Perspective on the Church,” scheduled Feb. 7-8, 2014.
Other projected speakers include Southeastern Seminary President Daniel Akin and Russell Moore, new president of the Southern Baptist Convention Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.
Akin and Moore were among 77 evangelical leaders addressed in an open letter in February from a former Mahaney associate asking that they cease inviting him to speak at religious events pending outcome of a class-action lawsuit.
The former associate-turned-critic, Brent Detwiler, later accused Southern Baptist leaders of enabling sin by continuing to promote the embattled preacher while serious questions about his fitness for ministry remain unanswered.
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