-by Kathi
Lori Alexander at The Transformed Wife continues to advocate that there is no room for divorce for a spouse experiencing physical abuse.
A commentor at her post, For Those Considering Divorce – Stop!, speaks about her mother’s best friend who would show up with bruises and black eyes. With valid reasoning she questions Lori about not divorcing due to physical abuse. Continue reading
Admin note: This blog was written and submitted to Spiritual Sounding Board. The author wishes to remain anonymous. ~ja
Did you hear about the movie Spotlight? It won Best Picture in 2015.
It’s a true story about an investigative reporting team from the Boston Globe who uncovered systematic hiding of sexual abuse and abusers in the Catholic Church. The Spotlight team accomplished their exposé, published in 2002, with the help of the organization Survivor Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP).
When the movie aired in 2015, many who had never before heard of SNAP now found out the heartbreaking and heroic work they’d been doing for decades.
But there’s a SNAP outreach for Baptists too, and Christa Brown, the author of the outstanding book This Little Light, was in 2008 the leader of that outreach, having recorded in that book and at www.stopbaptistpredators.com her work of many years in calling for the Southern Baptist Convention to deal with abuse seriously and establish a database of predators so that churches would better be able to avoid filling their pulpits with them.
These efforts failed.
But this does bring us around to Paige Patterson. Continue reading
Have you seen this yet? This is Paige Patterson, president of the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, preaching. Yes, I said preaching. Would you tell me what he is preaching here? This clip is less than 2 minutes long. You cannot make this stuff up.
This is from the same man who gave the convocation at Southwestern’s J. Dalton Havard School for Theological Studies in Houston on January 22, 2018. (Source: Havard students exhorted to live by the Word, resist worldly temptations).
Pastors have a unique role in the lives of their congregation, Patterson said. Pastors serve others during some of life’s most significant moments: birth, salvation, marriage and death. With such an important task, pastors must guard against worldly temptations.
Then reading from Romans 13:14, Patterson concluded with a warning to “make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.” Patterson said the problem is not always the devil’s lies or temptations, but one’s own persistence in “making provisions for the lusts of the flesh.”
“Wherever there is heat in your heart to have something that God has not chosen to give, then it becomes lust,” Patterson said. “And God says that ought not to be true.”
::::::heavy sigh:::::
Update 5/5/18: I was notified that I wrongly interpreted Patterson in the video. As a result, the title has been changed. The previous title incorrectly stated that Patterson was objectifying the teen. I apologize for the error. -Julie Anne
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Yesterday’s Washington Post article, In a #Metoo moment, will Southern Baptists hold powerful men accountable?, by Jonathan Merritt, discussed how Southern Baptist leaders asking if the #MeToo moment has arrived for the Southern Baptist Convention. He was primarily discussing Paige Patterson and other Southern Baptist leaders who have used their positions of authority to harm women.
I missed it until an alert reader notified me this morning. In that article, Merritt mentioned Frank Page, former chief executive officer of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee. If you recall, just over a month ago, Dr. Frank Page announced his retirement, and then followed up with a confession that he was really stepping down due to moral failure (see Frank Page, President of SBC’s Executive Committee, Resigns and Later Discloses Moral Failure). Continue reading
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Over the weekend, an old recording of an interview from 2000 with Paige Patterson resurfaced, causing an uproar because of his response regarding domestic violence. Paige Patterson is a prominent Southern Baptist leader and president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS).
I have been familiar with this recording for several years, but numerous attempts to address this issue have been ignored. Until now – when the world is paying attention to sexual abuse, harassment, and violence against women especially. It’s about time! Patterson caught wind of the responses and felt he was misrepresented, so he issued a statement yesterday (April 29th). As of this writing, both The Washington Post and Christianity Today have picked up the story.
I have taken a close look at the transcription from the interview and the new statement. The old statement is shown in orange font, the new statement is in purple font and indented. My editorial comments are in black. While Paige Patterson has attempted to clarify his position on domestic violence and respond to the recent firestorm, his new statement in his press release leaves me even more confused. He contradicts his original statement. The new statement sounds more like a fairy tale, rather than a factual incident. Continue reading
On This Page:
Resource Links, Part 1 – April 28 through May 22. Historical background resources, audiofile transcript, news articles and social media responses from April 28-May 22.
Resource Links, Part 2 – May 23-28. News articles and social media responses.
Resource Links, Part 3 – May 29 through June 3. News articles and social media responses.
Resource Links, Part 4 – June. Focus on statements and news articles related to topical and institutional issues in advance of the SBC annual meeting of June 11-12.
May 12, 2018. This bibliography grew far larger than expected, with delays in finding and posting links to earlier articles. Starting today, new items will appear at the bottom of the section for items from that date of publication, and will be marked with the date the link is added to this bibliography. For readers who just want the latest listings, search for [Link added DATE, 2018.] and fill in the date. Continue reading
Although Brad Sargent is known for his more recent research writings on spiritual abuse from a systemic perspective, he has written and edited on other forms of abuse and violence since the 1980s.
Statue of Lady Justice © Sebastian Duda, Fotolia #35822634.
Contention over abuse and violence in Christian communities has heightened in the era of #metoo and #churchtoo. However, controversies over theology, advocacy, and actions have been with us for a very long time. Recently, comments on abuse made by Paige Patterson, President of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, resurfaced and ignited a social media firestorm. Continue reading
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-by Kathi
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Tim Bayly is the pastor at Clearnote Church in Bloomington, Indiana, and president of Clearnote Pastors College. He received his M.Div. from Gordon-Cornwell Theological Seminary and is the author of the book, “Daddy Tried: Overcoming the Failures of Fatherhood.” Tim writes with Joe Bayly at Warhorn – Out of Our Minds. They formerly wrote at Balyblog.
Tim Bayly has a lot of opinions, but this recent Facebook post stood out:
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Pastor Bayly’s text reads:
Not sure whom to pity more, the citizens Sen. Duckworth represents or the baby she gave birth to? But surely the baby. Duckworth’s constituents voted 4 her but the poor baby had no choice. The mother of a newborn choosing the Senate over nursing her baby is shameful, yet we celebrate it.
According to the CNN article in Bayly’s post:
Duckworth is a retired Army lieutenant colonel who was a helicopter pilot in the Iraq War. She was the first female double amputee from the war after suffering severe combat wounds when her Black Hawk helicopter was shot down.
Senator Duckworth (D-IL) is the first active U.S. Senator to give birth while in office. Due to stringent Senate rules, she proposed a resolution to allow children under the age of one on the Senate floor. This proposal was passed unanimously and on April 19th she was wheeled on to the Senate floor with her baby daughter to cast a vote.
Senator Duckworth has opened the path for senators who are parents of infant children to continue their duties while caring for their child.
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What would cause a Christian such as Tim Bayly to shame working mothers and those who support them? There is nothing new with mothers working. Mothers work for various reasons, including the need to take care of their family. Did Tim have a conversation with Senator Duckworth where she confirmed she was choosing the Senate over her baby?
Perhaps Tim Bayly has an all-around problem with Tammy Duckworth. Let’s review her credentials: high-ranking military official, which means she ordered men. Democrat. She creates and votes on rules for our country. She is a married, working mother.
Perhaps Tim doesn’t believe that a woman should serve her country in a government position. Or, perhaps a woman can serve in a government role, but only as a single woman. But, I could see how that could cause problems too. I’m guessing she doesn’t fit Tim’s idea of a good, submissive wife and mother.
Does Tim Bayly think it is important for fathers of newborn infants to bond with their child? Why not hold new fathers to the same standard and pity these children?
For whatever reason, this Christian man decided to provide disrespectful commentary on a decorated veteran who continues to serve her country as an elected official. Not only did he disrespect her, but he disrespected millions of working women whose daily lives depend upon their jobs. I don’t think Senator Duckworth’s constituents or infant child are the ones to be pitied.
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I saw this tweet the other day. Long-time blog readers will recognize the name, Fred Butler, an employee of Grace to You, the radio ministry of Pastor John MacArthur. Butler’s tweet references another tweet from the @9Marks Twitter account which quotes from an article recently posted on their site. The article is about the church’s response to the #MeToo movement.
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I have a number of problems with Fred’s tweet. Continue reading
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Both Jeff Owens and his wife Sarah recently sent out a thread of tweets regarding a recent experience they had at their former (unidentified) Sovereign Grace church. I think these tweets deserve a wider audience.
What you will read is not healthy at all, and people need to understand the dismissive and bullying behavior employed by Sovereign Grace church leaders when they are encouraged or questioned about having an independent investigation of the decades-old sexual abuse allegations involving many children, many churches, and the mishandling of these cases by church leaders.
Sovereign Grace leaders are still using the same tactics that we’ve heard from personal accounts for years: no one gets to question authority or criticize authority without repercussion. Folks, this is spiritual abuse. Let’s call it what it is.
I have copied the tweets below for easier reading, but if you would like to see the original tweet threads, click on the hyperlink in Jeff Owens’ tweet below, or Sarah’s link within his tweet.
In the tweet thread, there is a reference to Rachael Denhollander. If you are unfamiliar with Rachael Denhollander and her experience in exposing Sovereign Grace ministries mishandling of sex abuse cases, here’s a good article to start: My Larry Nassar Testimony Went Viral. But There’s More to the Gospel Than Forgiveness.
Before we get to the tweets by Jeff and Sarah Owens, I wanted to share a section of the Sovereign Grace Local Church Polity with you. I have bolded parts pertinent to the communication by congregants to elders and leaders: Continue reading
This thread includes statements by and about Willow Creek Church and the reported misconduct of Bill Hybels. These were posted by key individuals and organizations in the situation, and in news articles from the Chicago Tribune, which broke the story.
It also includes critical analysis from other sources — survivor bloggers primarily — also showing reactions and commentary from survivors of spiritual abuse and/or sexual abuse/harassment/violence.
Initial entries are in chronological order; more may be added as the situation unfolds. Continue reading
