Well Done, Church Leaders: Grace Family Baptist Church Pastors Handle Sex Abuse Case of Alleged Pedophile Pastor Stephen Bratton Appropriately

Steve Bratton, Grace Family Baptist Church, Sex Abuse, Pedophile

I’ve written a lot of sad stories of how church leaders have mishandled sex abuse cases in the church. It appears that the elders at Grace Family Baptist Church in the Houston area have handled it the right way. Yes!

According to the Inquisitr, Stephen Bratton, then-pastor at Grace Family Baptist Church confessed to his wife in May about the abuse. She, in turn, contacted the co-pastors at Grace Family Baptist Church. Bratton “admitted to his co-pastors at Grace Family Baptist Church that same day that he had “sinned in grievous ways,” according to court documents.”

The Houston Chronicle detailed the sequence of events the co-pastors took after hearing about the sexual abuse. They did it right. Reporting was done on the same day! That is excellent. Kudos to them.

The investigation began on May 16 after Bratton allegedly confessed to three Southern Baptist clergy members that he abused the child, according to court documents. Two of Bratton’s co-pastors, Aaron Wright and Erin Frye, called the Harris County Sheriff’s Office to their church on Bammel Westfield Road to take a report that same day, while the third pastor, David Shiflet, said he referred the complaint to the Department of Family Protective Services.

Additionally, the church did well by releasing the following public statement on their church website:

Date: June 15, 2019
Subject: Public statement regarding Stephen Bratton’s crime

We are aware of the situation regarding Stephen Bratton and the charges that have been filed against him and of his arrest on June 14th.

Stephen Bratton confessed to Erin Frye and Aaron Wright, both pastors at the church, of sexually abusing a minor in an ongoing way for a number of years on May 16th.

This is the first time this had been brought to the attention of the pastors.

This activity is wrong according to Biblical and civil law and the church condemns the behavior as abhorrent.

The elders immediately filed a police report with Harris County Sheriff’s Office the same day, May 16th. As the weeks followed the pastors continued to make contact with the detective because they desired the case to be brought forward so that justice would be served. Once the case began we continued to cooperate fully throughout the investigation.

The elders have called upon Stephen Bratton to accept the full responsibility for his actions and to place himself at the mercy of the criminal justice system.

Stephen is no longer in a position of leadership at the church and is no longer receiving a salary.

Stephen Bratton was also excommunicated by the church the following Sunday, May 19th. Therefore he is no longer a member of the church.

Currently we are working to meet the needs of the family and the victim.

We have deep grief for the victim and have sought to respect the privacy and identity of the victim throughout this process.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QuLlq1Xd-4APtwfSYWo4rozybrek-6P_/view

The Inquisitr reported that Stephen Bratton sexually abused a teenage relative:

Specifically, according to the criminal complaint against him, he allegedly sexually abused a teenage relative over the course of two years. Specifically, their sex acts ranged from kissing all the way up to sexual intercourse. These acts allegedly took place multiple times per week or even multiple times per day.

Who is Stephen Bratton?

I searched online and found some items of interest. Stephen was pretty close with Voddie Baucham. In fact, Grace Family Baptist Church is the church Voddie Baucham used to pastor. Voddie named Stephen in the Acknowledgements in his book, Expository Apologetics:

Stephen Bratton signed The Statement on Social Justice & the Gospel. That’s not a big surprise since Voddie Baucham has been involved in the statement.

Bratton must have had the keys to Voddie Baucham’s public Facebook page because he took over administration duties from time to time:

And finally, the Inquisitr also reported Stephen Bratton’s local political efforts:

Bratton, who is a father of seven, was outspoken in support of a Texas bill that would have abolished abortions and charged women with homicide if they underwent the procedure. That level of offense can be punishable by the death penalty under Texas law.

I appreciate how the focus of the elders is now on victim and the victim’s family. This is a breath of fresh air to see:

Currently we are working to meet the needs of the family and the victim.

We have deep grief for the victim and have sought to respect the privacy and identity of the victim throughout this process.

There are also eight other victims that I hope the church will consider: Stephen’s wife and seven children. If anyone from GFBC is in contact with Bratton’s wife, there are two women who work with me at the blog and support wives of pedophiles. They have helped over 100 women who have found Spiritual Sounding Board and the articles/personal stories of wives of pedophiles. Mrs. Bratton, if you are reading this, my heart goes out to you. You do not need to walk this journey alone. Please contact me at spiritualsb@gmail.com if you would like me to put you in touch with these women.