Southern Baptist Convention elects new president, passes 2 reforms on sexual abuse

During the Southern Baptist Convention’s Annual Meeting on Tuesday, messengers overwhelmingly approved a series of abuse reform recommendations in the wake of a report detailing how some SBC leaders mishandled allegations of abuse and mistreated abuse victims. The first main recommendation is to create an abuse implementation task force, while the second is to create a “ministry check” database to keep track of church leaders accused of sexual abuse. During a press conference following the session, attorney and sexual abuse survivor Rachael Denhollander said the passing of the recommendations is the result of the “tireless efforts of the survivors” who “didn’t give up.”

Meanwhile, Pastor Bart Barber of First Baptist Church in Farmersville, Texas was elected president of the SBC during the Annual Meeting, garnering nearly 61% of the vote. Barber will replace SBC President Ed Litton, who was elected last year and announced in March that he would not seek reelection, becoming the first SBC president in decades not to do so. Read more.