DALLAS—Messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention in Dallas voted to affirm all eight resolutions brought to the floor—with some debate—but with only one amendment, deemed friendly.

“Restoring Moral Clarity through God’s Design for Gender, Marriage and the Family” drew the greatest notice ahead of the annual meeting, raising concerns beyond the SBC.

Several outlets reported the results of the vote yesterday, homing in on its call to end gay marriage by overturning Obergefell v. Hodges.

Yet SBC messengers saw little cause for discussion on the resolution, with only two messengers suggesting changes.

The wide-ranging resolution touched on issues ranging from same-sex marriage and “transgender ideology” to commercial surrogacy and defunding Planned Parenthood.

It states: “God created the world with order, meaning, and purpose, revealing through both Scripture and creation enduring truths about human life, marriage, sexuality, and the family.”

It also says: “Our culture is increasingly rejecting and distorting these truths by redefining marriage, pursuing willful childlessness which contributes to a declining fertility rate, ignoring and suppressing the biological differences between male and female, encouraging gender confusion, undermining parental rights, and denying the value and dignity of children.”

Citing concerns about not just girls but his own sons also potentially having to contend with transgender teammates in their locker rooms, Scot Myers of Texas offered an amendment to the resolution.

The original language said, “the normalization of transgender ideology—especially the participation of biological males in girls’ sports and the medical transition of minors—represents a rebellion against God’s design” and inflicts unjust harm on children.

Myers suggested wording be added to indicate biological girls in boys’ sports also is harmful.

This amendment was deemed friendly, and the resolution passed with the amended wording.

Messengers raised no additional concerns about any other pieces of the lengthy resolution.

Resolution on chemical abortion

A resolution “On Standing Against the Moral Evils and Medical Dangers of Chemical Abortion Pills” cites Scripture that teaches all human life is sacred and notes the SBC consistently has affirmed the sanctity of “preborn life” and opposed all forms of abortion.

Dean Scoular of Missouri sought to expand the language of the resolution to add a “resolved” to be more specific about which human lives should be protected.

He suggested adding wording that would call “for laws, including the United States Constitution” and state constitutions to protect all human life as sacred, including the elderly and humans with special needs.

The committee affirmed the spirit and letter of his amendment, but felt the resolution as written encompassed the concerns, and the amendment failed.

Drew Kingma of Texas sought to amend the resolution to make a stiffer statement on the moral evil of abortion by adding a call for individuals who’ve funded, engineered or willfully participated in any type of abortion to “confess and repent of the sin of murder,” and to put their faith in Jesus who will forgive all sinners, including murderers.

The committee acknowledged the spirit of his amendment was distinct from the wording of the resolution, yet they contended the content of the amendment already was reflected in the resolution as written and deemed the amendment unfriendly. The resolution passed without amendment.

A resolution “On the Harmful and Predatory Nature of Sports Betting,” garnered some debate. Matt McCraw of Florida offered an amendment to soften the language of the resolution to change the designation of gambling as “sin.”

David Crowther of Kansas, who presented the resolution, responded with the committees’ position. The amendment was deemed in conflict with the spirit of the resolution and therefore unfriendly, Crowther said.

Crowther advised McCraw and the messengers that Southern Baptists throughout their history “have been outspoken about the ‘sin’ of gambling,” and Southern Baptists never have made allowances for gambling for recreational purposes.

Despite the primer, a number of messengers agreed with McCaw that the sinfulness of gambling was debatable by voting in favor of amending the wording of the resolution. However, the amendment failed to gain enough support, and the resolution passed as written.

A resolution on banning pornography passed without discussion or dissent.

Resolution on religious freedom

A resolution about international religious freedom had an amendment proposed—to remove the word “undue” from the first RESOLVED and then add the words “or coercion.” The line in question would read: “… to practice their religious convictions without undue interference (or coercion) from civil power.”

The committee explained their position that removing the word “undue” might imply there never would be a situation where civil interference might be appropriate. Baptists never have held the position that religious freedom is an absolute right in all circumstances, the committee said.

The committee on resolutions stood by the wording they noted had been drawn from the Baptist Faith & Message 2000, deemed the amendment unfriendly, and it failed—but not before Casey Stark of Louisiana spoke in favor of the amendment.

“God has either given us” religious freedom and the ability to seek and know him, “or he has not,” he asserted. Baptists long have insisted individuals have a religious right to seek God without government influence or coercion, he said.

“On top of that,” Stark noted, “there’s a rising nationalism that would seek to have a Christian prince dictate Christian thought.

“We rely on the power of Jesus Christ alone to transform and save lives. We are not interested in government coercion or power of any kind,” Stark asserted.

After a little more discussion, the question was called and the resolution passed as originally proposed.

Resolutions on appreciating the city of Dallas, on commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Cooperative Program, and a resolution honoring the centennial anniversary of the Baptist Faith and Message and the 25th anniversary of its 2000 version, were presented individually and passed with little to no discussion.

Andrew Walker of Kentucky served as chair of the committee on resolutions. The committee brought eight resolutions to the floor in Dallas. Thirty-four additional resolutions were proposed to the committee but not brought out for consideration.

Authors of some resolutions not selected by the committee to be brought to the floor sought suspensions of the rules to bring out the declined resolutions. None of these bids was successful.

The full text of resolutions presented at the SBC annual meeting in Dallas can be found here.

DALLAS—Southern Baptists defeated a motion to do away with the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, the Southern Baptist Convention’s moral concerns and public policy agency.

Messengers to the SBC annual meeting in Dallas voted 3,744 (56.89 percent) to 2,819 (42.84 percent) on June 11 to reject a motion introduced by Willy Rice of Calvary Baptist Church in Clearwater, Fla., to abolish the ERLC.

Rice called his motion a “wake-up call” to the agency.

“Why bring a motion to abolish the ERLC? Because this is how we save it,” Rice told the SBC annual meeting on June 11.

SBC Bylaw 25 requires a majority vote at two consecutive annual meetings to abolish any convention entity.

“It gives that entity time to hear the concerns of our churches, pursue meaningful reform and return with a renewed mission,” he said.

Without citing specifics, Rice raised concern about “outside progressive advocacy groups” providing financial support to the ERLC.

“Facts are stubborn things, and the evidence is clear. And the trust is broken,” Rice said.

The Center for Baptist Leadership has asserted the Open Society Foundations—founded by George Soros—funded the National Evangelical Forum. The National Evangelical Forum, in turn, helped create the Evangelical Immigration Roundtable, of which the ERLC is a member.

The ERLC acknowledges it works with multiple coalitions, including the Evangelical Immigration Roundtable, but it has denied any financial links.

“The ERLC has never taken any funding from George Soros or Soros-related entities. In addition, the ERLC has never received any money from the EIT or given money to the EIT. There are no financial ties whatsoever between the ERLC and EIT,” the ERLC stated on its website.

Effort to defund Planned Parenthood emphasized

Richard Land, a former president of the ERLC, spoke in opposition to abolishing the agency. Land citing ERLC influence on public policy, such as the House-approved measure to “defund the evil and infamous organization known as Planned Parenthood.”

“It would be particularly tragic” to do away with the ERLC at this pivotal time, he insisted.

“We have more opportunity right now to influence public policy in our nation’s capital than we have had in my lifetime,” Land said.

The president and a majority in the House and Senate are “sympathetic to what we as Southern Baptists are trying to do to turn back the barbarians at the gate in our culture,” he asserted.

Earlier in the day, current ERLC President Brent Leatherwood in his report to the SBC also mentioned defunding of Planned Parenthood as evidence of how some of Southern Baptists’ public priorities are advancing at the national level.

After Leatherwood presented his report, ERLC trustee Jon Whitehead asked what assurance Southern Baptists have that the agency will promote only those policies that reflect the will of churches.

Leatherwood said the ERLC uses a “decision-making matrix” in determining public policy priorities. Each potential issue is judged in terms of whether it is rooted in Scripture, reflective of the Baptist Faith & Message, and responsive to the will of SBC messengers, as reflected in adopted resolutions, he said.

DALLAS—Southern Baptists celebrated 58 newly appointed International Mission Board missionaries during the opening session of the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting.

Throughout the sending ceremony, missionaries took the stage to talk about their calling and thank those who are supporting their Great Commission task.

“It’s so good to be with you today as we gather, together, to do many important things,” IMB President Paul Chitwood said. “But perhaps none so important as this—to send 58 new IMB missionaries to pursue lostness around the world.”

Missionaries, he said, are sent and supported, first and foremost, by their local churches, “but make no mistake—they are also sent by us, here in Dallas, Texas.”

Chitwood continued, “This is a moment where we have the privilege to celebrate their going, commission them to join God in his mission, and commit to support them in every way.”

How Southern Baptists’ support matters

To illustrate the importance of Southern Baptist support of missionaries, Chitwood cited three recent examples. The first was a young missionary mother whose cancer treatments in Houston begin this week. Her medical needs are covered by giving through the Cooperative Program and Lottie Moon Christmas Offering.

Just four days before the commissioning, a missionary family wrote with thankfulness for training that protected them when 12 men with machetes entered and robbed their home. The missionaries remained calm and felt the presence of the Holy Spirit, they said.

Southern Baptists provided that vital security and safety training for the missionaries and their five children, Chitwood noted.

Earlier this year, a volunteer group was jailed in a restricted access country and detained for two days. Through God’s protection, the group was released and arrived home safely, Chitwood reported.

Because of Southern Baptist support, the IMB has resources for a highly trained incident response team ready to move on behalf of missionaries and volunteers at a moment’s notice.

“Southern Baptists, we’re not just sending missionaries but preparing them to endure the difficulties they face on the field,” Chitwood said.

The new appointees are joining more than 3,500 IMB missionaries and their families currently serving in 155 countries.

Those missionaries heading to regions hostile to the gospel or missionary presence appeared behind a screen for the public event to protect their identities. Four couples spoke in their first languages of Italian and Korean, while English translations ran on the screens. Missionaries expressed gratitude for the prayers and generosity of Southern Baptists.

Former Journeymen among appointees

Among the 58 missionaries participating in the Sending Celebration, 11 were former Journeymen. The IMB recently recognized the 60th anniversary of the program, which has become a strategic pipeline for career missionary service.

The program was created for young Southern Baptists between the ages of 21 and 29 to serve two-year missionary terms. More than 6,500 young adults have served in the Journeyman program in the past six decades.

Lauren Ulmer, Zack and Courtney Newsome and Bridget Davis were among the missionaries in Dallas who served as Journeymen before making long-term commitments to service overseas.

Ulmer knew she was called to missions after she went on a volunteer trip to Costa Rica with Southside Baptist Church in Live Oak, Fla., which is her sending church. She wasn’t sure where she would go until a semester position with IMB in Quebec opened for her the winter of 2019.

The Florida native didn’t have any winter clothing, but Southside Baptists came through for her.

“They rallied around me, gave me a winter coat and helped me raise funds for all the winter things that I would need,” Ulmer said.

“Two months later in January 2019, I’m showing up to Quebec, in the midst of the coldest months, ready to do university ministry and hospitality ministry.”

After her short-term service, Ulmer returned to Quebec as a Journeyman, serving from 2019-21. She said these were challenging years, but she relied on the Lord, her ministry team in Quebec and the consistent support from Southside. In those hard days, Ulmer appreciated the emails and letters she received from Southside.

“Someone would send the verse I needed to read or a prayer voice message I needed to hear,” she said. “My church inspired me and reminded me I wasn’t serving alone.”

Means much to have a church’s support

Zack and Courtney Newsome served as a Journeymen couple before answering the call to long-term service. They served as Journeymen from 2017-19, and through the two-year term, they realized they were called to be full-time missionaries.

“As Journeymen, we were able to see a church planted and see this church grow and reach Muslims,” Zack said. They look forward to serving with the IMB in Panama.

The Newsomes met while attending Murray State University and were influenced by Hardin Baptist Church in Hardin, Ky.

“It was in this church, under the leadership of my college pastor, Chris Lawrence, that I bore the most fruit,” Zack said.

The Newsomes are also grateful for their sending church, NorthWoods Church in Evansville, Ind., where Zack served as student pastor.

“NorthWoods gave us that encouragement of, ‘Hey, we’ll support you,’” Courtney said. “Serving internationally, it means so much to have the support of a church, knowing they love us.”

Bridget Davis said the two years of her Journeyman experience went by faster than she thought it would go. “It sounds like a long time, but it’s not,” she said.

She served in Sub-Saharan Africa with IMB missionary Kathy Shafto who had a big influence on her life. “Kathy taught me about seeing opportunities to speak the truth of God’s word into the people’s lives and how to be strong and gentle at the same time.”

Bridget and her husband Jude will be serving in Germany with a missionary team with whom they already have made connections. Through their sending church, First Baptist Church of Rogers, Ark., the Davises took a short-term mission trip to Germany to serve with current IMB missionaries with whom First Baptist Church in Rogers has a partnership.

“We are going there because we got to see what it was like as a family to live there and serve there,” Bridget said. “I’m really thankful for the opportunities that our sending church has given us. They have been so supportive and have helped us work through our calling to missions.”

Jude said he also appreciates the support of First Baptist in Rogers, as well as the church he attended when he was in college, College Heights Baptist Church in Plainview.

He said College Heights “gave me a great foundation, encouraged my pursuit of doing mission work, which was the beginning of when I realized God was calling me. This church helped me realize that missions isn’t just something you do; it’s who you are.”

Chitwood closed the celebration by urging continued commitment to send more missionaries to the nations. During a time of responsive reading, attendees voiced their commitment.

“We pray for you, that God would open doors to share the mystery of the gospel with those who have never heard,” said the nearly 10,000 church messengers in attendance. The sending celebration ended with a time of prayer, during which Chitwood invited messengers to gather around missionaries.

CAUTION: This report contains sensitive descriptions of sexual abuse.

DALLAS (RNS)—In early April, Jennifer Lyell, a former Christian publishing executive, sat for a deposition in a defamation lawsuit filed by her once mentor and professor David Sills.

There she detailed alleged sexual and spiritual abuse by Sills in graphic detail—and insisted he had coerced her into sexual acts without her consent, and then asked her to join him at family meals afterward.

“But he always knew that I never, ever wanted any instance,” she said in an excerpt from her April 10 deposition. “And I always, always tried to stop it.”

Lyell died June 7 after suffering a series of strokes. She was 47. A few weeks before she died, her lawyer filed excerpts of her deposition in a federal court as part of a legal battle over discovery in the defamation lawsuit.

Attorneys for Sills had filed a motion to compel discovery of a number of things, including notes from Lyell’s counseling sessions. Lyell’s lawyers argued those notes were privileged and should not be turned over.

Deposition provides details of alleged abuse

The excerpts from Lyell’s deposition, filed as part of the response to the discovery requests, revealed additional details about the alleged abuse by Sills. In excerpts from the deposition, Lyell describes being forced to perform sexual acts despite telling Sills no.

“I resisted—attempted to resist verbally, physically squirming, reasoning, no, all these things,” she said in her deposition, adding Sills would often corner her and not allow her to get away.

The conflict over discovery is the latest chapter in the legal battle between Sills and leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Sills, a former seminary professor, claimed SBC leaders defamed him by including his name in a report on the issue of sexual abuse published in 2022. Sills has admitted to misconduct but claimed it was consensual and denied in court documents that he was abusive.

Lyell, a former vice president of Lifeway, also was named in the lawsuit. In 2019, she went public with her allegations against Sills. But few details of the abuse had been revealed until the May 20 court filing.

Along with abuse, Lyell also described spiritual manipulation by Sills—a longtime missionary and seminary professor—saying she was made to feel as if she somehow tempted Sills into sexual activity.

Lyell’s deposition recounts coercion

According to Lyell’s deposition, Sills often coerced her into sexual activity while she was visiting his home, and while family members also still were in the house.

Sills, a family friend and surrogate father figure, would go from being encouraging and parental to abusive and back again, Lyell alleged in her deposition, claiming that not long after forcing her to perform sex acts, Sills would lead his family and Lyell in prayers at the dinner table.

Following a sex act, Sills allegedly would tell her to repent for what she had done—warning her that once she repented, she never could tell anyone about what had happened.

“And then he had rules, such as that after you repent, because of 1 John 1:9, that you can never speak of whatever you’ve repented of, or that’s blasphemous. And so, I was stuck without a way to figure out how to navigate the, all of the confusing and seemingly conflicting dynamics.”

In the deposition excerpts, Lyell said that at first, she blamed herself, saying something “broken” in her was causing Sills to act in an abusive manner. She eventually realized he wanted the sexual activity and she was not causing him to sin, according to the deposition excerpts.

Attorneys for Sills did not respond to a request for comment. A mediation session in the Sills lawsuit in late April failed to reach a resolution earlier this spring.

Court documents also mentioned claims of alleged sexual misconduct involving another woman who had sought spiritual counsel from Sills for her troubled marriage. Sills’ lawyers are attempting to block her from being deposed.

“Plaintiffs moved to prohibit the deposition of that witness, who is expected to testify that David Sills took advantage of her vulnerability after she and her husband came to him for counseling concerning their marriage and manipulated her into giving him oral sex,” according to a document filed by Lyell’s lawyers.

SBC still dealing with lawsuits

Lyell’s death and the excerpts from her deposition come at a time when the Southern Baptist Convention is in Dallas for its annual meeting. During that meeting, SBC messengers will have to vote on how to pay ongoing legal bills from a sex abuse crisis, including Sills’ lawsuit.

The Sills lawsuit is one of three suits, filed by Southern Baptist leaders accused of alleged abuse, against the nation’s largest Protestant denomination.

Over the past four years, the Executive Committee, which oversees the Southern Baptist Convention’s business between annual meetings, has spent more than $13 million in legal fees, depleting most of its reserves.

The committee took out a $3 million loan and put its Nashville headquarters up for sale.

SBC messengers asked to approve $3 million

Now the Executive Committee has asked messengers to approve a $3 million allocation from the denomination’s Cooperative Program, which funds national ministries and overseas missions for the nation’s largest Protestant denomination.

Jeff Iorg, president of the Executive Committee, told committee members in a meeting on Monday there is “an end in sight for these high legal costs.”

“We are not there yet,” he said. Iorg also told SBC leaders he hopes the lawsuits will be concluded soon.

“While many have joined me in lamenting this action,” Iorg said, referring to the allocation request submitted to the messengers, “I also believe most leaders understand the need for it and will support it.”

An investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice, which led to about $2 million in legal fees, recently concluded with no charges filed.

In March, a federal judge dismissed most of the charges in a defamation lawsuit filed by former SBC President Johnny Hunt. The Hunt lawsuit and the Sills suit have cost more than $3 million to defend.

The SBC is also appealing a ruling by a Tennessee judge in a defamation case filed by Preston Garner, a worship leader and teacher, who says the denomination’s Credentials Committee told a church where he’d been hired about allegations of abuse at a former congregation. That disclosure cost Garner his job.

The SBC has sought to have the suit dismissed, saying the courts have no jurisdiction over what is an internal religious debate. So far, Tennessee courts have disagreed.

Lyell’s name was not mentioned during the Executive Committee’s June 8 meeting nor at a panel on abuse sponsored by the committee later that day. In 2022, the Executive Committee apologized to Lyell for running a news story that referred to her allegations of abuse as an affair.

DALLAS—Messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Dallas elected a slate of officers, reelecting Clint Pressley, pastor of Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Charlotte, N.C., to a second term as president.

Michael Criner, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Rockwall, nominated Pressley, saying, “Clint Presley loves being a Southern Baptist … and has represented us so well.”

“Clint Pressley has earned our trust for another year as our president,” Criner said.

Pressley was elected 5,567 (92.64 percent) to 408 (6.79 percent) over David Morrill of Applewood Baptist Church in Wheat Ridge, Colo., writer and publisher of the Protestia website.

Chris Cunningham, pastor of Hillcrest Baptist Church of Big Spring, nominated Morrill, calling him “a soldier for the truth.”

Daniel Ritchie, a North Carolina vocational evangelist and author, was elected first vice president.

Ritchie received 5,409 votes (87.84 percent), while Larry Helms, pastor of Fort Lawn Baptist Church in Fort Lawn, S.C., received 722 votes (11.72 percent). Out of 6,158 votes, 27 (0.44 percent) were disallowed.

Craig Carlisle, director of missions for Etowah Baptist Association and president of the Alabama Baptist State Convention, was elected second vice president.

Carlisle received 3,765 votes (56.46 percent), while Tommy Mann, pastor of Highland Terrace Baptist Church in Greenville, received 2,057 votes (30.85 percent), and Christopher Rhodes, pastor of Dover Baptist Temple in Dover, Ohio, received 806 votes (12.09 percent). Forty votes (0.6 percent) were disallowed.

Jim Gatliff, director of missions in Hunt Baptist Association, nominated Mann. Highland Terrace Baptist is dually aligned with the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention and the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

Messengers to the annual meeting reelected by acclamation Don Currence, administrative pastor at First Baptist Church in Ozark, Mo., as registration secretary and Nathan Finn, professor at North Greenville University in South Carolina, as recording secretary.

DALLAS—To continue conversations addressing sexual abuse within churches, the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee sponsored a panel discussion on abuse response and prevention during the SBC annual meeting June 9 in Dallas.

The panel discussion on “Safeguarding the Next Generation” featured Olivia Littleton, Jeff Dalrymple, Lynne Little, Matt Espenshade and moderator Courtney Reissig.

Littleton is a team supervisor for One More Child, an anti-trafficking group. Dalrymple serves with the SBC Executive Committee as director of abuse prevention and response.

The conversation began with the question: “Why are we still talking about this?”

“I think the worst thing that we can do is hide and act like this doesn’t affect everyone,” Espenshade said. “This affects not just Christian communities, but camps and schools and public institutions. It’s everywhere, and it’s pervasive.”

‘Biblical mandate to continue this conversation’

Little, a Christian educator, said, “Every child is the thumbprint of God.”

“We have a biblical mandate to continue this conversation because the reality is that the statistics are staggering,” she said, “We continue this conversation because we have a continuing aggressive culture towards abuse of our children. There are increased avenues of access to our children. Misconduct is on the rise and yet our safeguards aren’t keeping pace.”

Dalrymple pointed to societal issues.

“I think also we see the sexualization of our culture and the prevalence of promiscuity and pornography in virtually every aspect of society, and that’s infiltrated the churches. So, our churches need to continue to preach the good news of Jesus Christ, call people to repentance [and] call people to discipleship,” Dalrymple said.

During the discussion, the panel shared the statistic from the Centers for Disease Control that 1 in 7 children are abused and/or neglected.

“One in seven is one too many,” Reissig said. “And Jesus is a good shepherd who goes after the one. He cares about the one.

“And if that’s the one who is abused, our stories and abuse happening in churches in particular tell a story about Christ that is not true. And we don’t want that for our children, and we don’t want that for our Christian witness.”

The conversation also included advice on how to equip yourself and what signs to be aware of as a leader within a Christian community and as a parent.

Topics discussed also included online predator activity through social media, AI, online gaming and explicit acts of extortion.

‘Everybody has a role to play’

The speakers encouraged parents to be more aware of their children’s online activity, as well as be in consistent conversation with their kids in order to develop their ability to discern.

Espenshade, a Tennessee pastor who served 24 years with the FBI, emphasized the need for governance, training, policy and improved response.

“Everybody has a role to play and everybody has to be educated on what to look for,” Espenshade said. “It comes down to training and mindset. You have to have good governance and good training in letting people know what to look for. You have to have good response plans in place.

“Grooming happens, and they [groomers] are master manipulators … building trust with kids, trying to isolate them from other people, gradually pushing boundaries with those kids so that they start to think about things differently and isolating those from the ones that truly care about them.

“Also, in church particularly, we often mistake someone’s spiritual reputation and think that equals safety … Their position doesn’t equal spiritual integrity.”

As the conversation on equipping continued, Littleton expressed the importance of reporting even if you suspect abuse of a child is taking place rather than expecting someone else to.

 “There is no ‘somebody else’ on your team. I never met anyone named ‘somebody else,’” Littleton said.

“So, when you say somebody else is going to make that call … that person is you. And wouldn’t you rather have made the call to report and have been wrong, than to have not made the call and abuse is missed. So, take the chance, report it.

“There are experts that will then take the ball and carry it from here. But we have the first step that we need to report it and pass it on. And hopefully you’re wrong … hopefully there is not abuse, but we’d rather make the call and be wrong than to have missed an opportunity to intervene in a child’s life.”

Other recommendations from the panel included required mandatory training and reporting policies, background checks and proper response to mitigating trauma in the event that abuse takes place.

The SBC also provides resources on sexual abuse prevention through their website as well as resources from GuideStone, Lifeway and associated state conventions.

DALLAS—“Missions is not a monthly meeting,” noted WMU Executive Director Sandy Wisdom-Martin, adding, “It is how we live our lives.”

Southern Baptist women at the National WMU Missions Celebration honored 130 years of the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering, 60 years of the Journeyman missions program and 30 years of the WMU Foundation.

They also awarded the 25th Dellanna O’Brien Award for women’s leadership development to Julia Ketner, retired executive director of Arkansas WMU.

Texas Baptist churches and partners participated in the celebration.

Drummers from the Africa Fellowship of Dallas drummed and sang the call to worship. Youth Dancers from Texas Kachin Baptist Church of Fort Worth performed a welcome dance. And, Savion Lee, Royal Ambassador coordinator for Texans on Mission, offered a theme interpretation.

In her president’s address, Connie Dixon said the past year had been filled with physical challenges related to knee surgeries, which had kept her home, grounded from her usual ministry activities.

She said even though she recently wrote a book “on finding joy in the struggle, “she was “struggling with seeing past [her] current realities.”

However, she said, a phrase she noted shows up 44 times in the King James Version of the Bible, “but God,” had helped her move through her struggles.

“But God,” is present in Genesis 8 when God remembered Noah. It appears in Joseph’s story in Genesis 50 where Joseph said, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good.” And in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus notes, “but with God all things are possible.”

“But God” also was evident in the 1800s when women weren’t allowed to attend the Southern Baptist Convention meetings as messengers or serve on committees, Dixon noted. “But God, in 1888, placed in the hearts of our visionary leaders to start WMU.”

In 1895 the average woman had little income, yet the Home Mission Board asked the fledgling organization to help raise $5,000 anyway. WMU was the only group to contribute 100 percent of its pledged amount to the $75,000 campaign. “But God,” Dixon said.

In 1965, at a pivotal time in American history, the Journeyman program was established to send individuals who were investigating a calling to missions abroad for two years of service.

The times were challenging, “but God” has used Journeymen, with more than 6,000 having served through the program since its institution and more than 1,000 of those becoming career missionaries, she said.

Then, in 1995, the WMU Missions Foundation was formed. Not everyone wanted to have a “foundation of our own, but God has used the WMU Foundation.”

Dixon noted grants and scholarships of more than $19 million have been awarded since the foundation began. God continues to use WMU today, she asserted.

Dixon’s year was hard, but she said God used her difficulties to teach her and grow her. Dixon concluded: “God’s heart is for the nations. God’s heart is for each and every one of us to grow closer to him.”

She challenged WMU members to “stay faithful to their mandate of making disciples of Jesus who live on mission.”

Celebrating Annie Armstrong

WMU leaders from around the world took turns telling why they consider it a joy to be part of the WMU family, and leaders from around the country took turns telling the story of Annie Armstrong.

From the Southern Baptist Convention Home Mission Board’s request for Armstrong’s help raising funds and exceeding their $5,000 goal that would establish the Annie Armstrong Easter offering to her cooperation with Lottie Moon toward missions and missions support, the organization celebrated Armstong’s contributions to WMU and missions.

Several speakers highlighted Armstong’s commitment to minister to people in the greatest need, without regard for status, race or cultural background.

They noted she played a crucial role in the health of the SBC in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, even though women were not permitted to attend or serve as messengers at Southern Baptist Convention meetings during those years.

Wanda Lee, SBC WMU executive director and president emerita, noted the Lottie Moon Offering for international missions, begun when Armstrong was leader of the WMU, “has brought in $5.6 billion for the international missions effort of Southern Baptists,” and the offering bearing Armstrong’s name has raised “almost $2.2 billion for North American missions.

Augusta “Gus” Smith, executive director of Native American LINK and director of Native Praise, spoke about Armstrong’s work among Native American women in Oklahoma.

Smith noted Armstrong welcomed the first delegation of two Native American women to the SBC WMU meeting in 1896.

Armstrong rallied to support women and children in Native American Territory, making five visits to serve in Oklahoma beginning with the first 4,000 mile, 40-day trip in 1900 by horseback, train and carriage “in the hopes of unifying work in the territory.”

“In Ohio, I played on that rock Annie used in mounting her horse on her visit,” Smith recalled.

She observed the changing ways her people have been named by others in her lifetime—as “American Indian, Native American and Indigenous, to name a few.”

Additionally, Smith noted, they’ve been portrayed as “Redskins, Injuns, Indian-givers, squaws, and even our country’s Declaration of Independence refers to our people as ‘merciless savages.’”

Smith said there is still much work to be done in educating others about her people, including the fact their traditional regalia is not a “costume.”

But Armstrong valued and wanted to understand the people she was serving, Smith said, noting the effort Armstrong began continues to offer support for the Christian witness of Native Americans, including her own pastors.

Smith asked the broader WMU to pray for Native American Christians. “Trust remains a huge issue among our people because of the atrocities and the forced removal our ancestors faced,” when “so-called Christians” didn’t always “live or love like Jesus.”

Leaving a legacy

Wisdom-Martin in her executive director’s address spoke about leaving a legacy for future generations of WMU. She told how this year’s Dellanna O’Brien award recipient had poured into her spiritually and how she in turn, had invested in a younger woman, who’d invested in a younger woman and so on. Faithful women also had poured into Ketner before she poured into Wisdom-Martin.

“I want you to see that the missionary influence spans geography, and it spans generations. Think of all the people that have poured into you,” she said.

Women who never bore children physically in that line can be great-great grandmothers in the faith who meet spiritual grandchildren in heaven one day, she mused.

“That’s how you leave a legacy for generations,” Wisdom-Martin said. “For us to be together around the throne, someone has to share the good news.”

Noting the mission is urgent and should be prioritized, Wisdom-Martin urged the women of the WMU not just to focus on the corporate mission of the organization, but to make sure they are doing enough personally to share the gospel.

She said God is working on her. She has committed to share a copy of the Gospel of John with 100 people between Easter this year and Easter next year, despite her initial reluctance to take on the task.

“Who is [God] laying on your heart to tell about him?” she asked.

Make a commitment to tell them, Wisdom-Martin urged, and “be committed to telling the good news until you draw your dying breath.”

Connie Dixon of New Mexico was re-elected to serve as president, and Lisa Thompson of Georgia was elected to succeed Shirley McDonald of Texas as recording secretary.

(RNS)—Jennifer Lyell, an editor and author whose promising career in Christian publishing was derailed when she accused a former Southern Baptist leader of abuse, died June 7. She was 47.

“Jennifer passed gently into the arms of her Redeemer, surrounded by loved ones,” said her friend Rachael Denhollander, who said Lyell had suffered “a series of massive strokes, leading to her becoming unconscious sometime Monday afternoon. She was found Thursday evening after missing a medical appointment.”

For much of her adult life, Lyell had been a Southern Baptist success story. She came to faith at 20 at a Billy Graham crusade, went to seminary, dreamed of becoming a missionary, taught the Bible to young women and children and became a vice president at Lifeway Christian Resources.

At Lifeway, she worked on about a dozen New York Times bestsellers, according to a biography from her time at Lifeway.

By 2019, she was one of the highest-ranking women leaders in the nation’s largest Protestant denomination.

Lyell had gone into publishing reluctantly, after her desire to be a missionary went unfulfilled.

“Eventually, I’m always convicted of the reality that my life is not my own. It was bought at an incomprehensible price,” she said in a 2009 profile published by Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, where Lyell had earned a master of divinity degree.

Reported 12 years of abuse

While at seminary in 2004, the 26-year-old Lyell met David Sills, a professor in his late 40s who became her mentor and a surrogate father figure, welcoming her into his family. Sills was also president of Reaching & Teaching International Ministries, a missionary nonprofit.

In 2018, Lyell told her bosses Sills allegedly had used force and his spiritual influence to coerce her into nonconsensual sexual acts over the course of 12 years. Sills admitted to misconduct and resigned from his seminary post and as president of the nonprofit, but no details were made public.

But when Sills found a new job with another Christian ministry the next year, Lyell went public with her allegations of abuse, telling her story to Baptist Press.

Rather than portraying her claims as abuse, the Baptist Press article said Lyell had had “a morally inappropriate relationship” with a seminary professor. That story later was retracted, and Baptist Press apologized.

But the damage was done. Lyell was labeled a temptress and adulteress who led a Christian leader astray. She was showered with hate, with pastors and churches calling for her to be fired.

A prominent activist journalist published an account alleging Lyell had been less than truthful and arguing Sills had been denied a chance to return to ministry. Lyell eventually left her job at Lifeway amid the turmoil.

“We are saddened to hear the news of the passing of Jennifer Lyell. Lifeway sends our prayers and deepest sympathies to Jennifer’s family and friends,” Lifeway spokesperson Carol Pipes said in a June 8 statement.

“It takes years and years to recover from trauma, and no one should be in the position of having to explain it to the whole public while they’re still trying to do that,” Lyell told Religion News Service in a 2021 interview, in which she said she regretted coming forward.

Led to Guideposts investigation

Controversy over the Baptist Press story, as well as other accusations that SBC leaders had mishandled abuse cases, led the denomination to order a major investigation into the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee’s handling of abuse.

A 2022 report published by the investigative firm Guidepost Solutions found the SBC had mistreated survivors and long sought to downplay the problem of abuse in the denomination, leading to a series of reforms.

The report, however, led to more trouble for Lyell. Sills sued the SBC and its leaders after the Guidepost report appeared, saying they had conspired to make him a scapegoat and asserting he was “repentant and obedient.” He also sued Lyell.

Lyell never backed down from her account. Earlier this year, in a deposition, she detailed the alleged abuse and how the Bible had been used to silence her for years.

“I do not need to be under oath to tell the truth—and there are no lies that will shake my certainty of what is true,” she said in a social media post when the suit was filed.

Lyell had rebuilt her life after leaving Christian publishing, attending law school and finding a new career. But like many adult women who accuse male spiritual leaders of abuse, she continued to be viewed with suspicion.

Her death comes as reforms in the SBC protocols on abuse have slowed and one of the major planned reforms, a database to track abusive leaders, appears to be stalled permanently.

Still, Lyell never relented, said fellow survivor Tiffany Thigpen.

“She inspired me. She encouraged me,” Thigpen said. “She made me feel better about myself than I thought I deserved. And when I tried to deflect her words, she’d stop me and say: ‘No, stop. I need you to hear me.’”

Megan Lively, another abuse survivor, said her friend was “much more than the awful things that happened to her.” In a text to RNS, Lively noted that Lyell, who loved the music of Rich Mullins and the “West Wing” television show, was a Sunday school teacher and author of The Promises of God Storybook Bible for kids.

“She was one of the smartest and generous people I will know. She loved her Savior and is now at peace,” Lively said in a text.

Lyell is the second prominent SBC abuse survivor to die in recent months. In May, Duane Rollins, whose allegations of abuse against Texas judge and Southern Baptist leader Paul Pressler helped spark a major reckoning with abuse in the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, died after years of illness.

Lyell remained a person of deep faith. A quote from the C.S. Lewis book The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobeadorns a pair of paving stones in her front lawn. The quote explains how Aslan the lion, a Jesus-like figure in the book, had come back to life, in a story that parallels Easter.

“When a willing victim, who has committed no treachery was killed in a traitor’s stead … the Table would crack and death itself would start working backwards.”

NASHVILLE (BP)—The newly proposed business and financial plan going before Southern Baptist Convention messengers for a vote next week aims to offer clarity while leaning on trustee governance of SBC entities, said Executive Committee President Jeff Iorg.

“Those entity leaders have been involved in creating the new plan and support its adoption,” he said. “Most comments from pastors and lay leaders have been positive, with those who raise questions usually wanting clarification for how the new plan enhances transparency.”

That issue in particular rests on the belief in a system of governance initiated with the SBC’s Constitution and as old as the convention itself.

“Boards of Managers,” as that document described modern-day trustees, “will be necessary for carrying out the benevolent objects [the SBC] may determine to promote.”

Bypass the trustee system?

“Some who are calling for greater transparency want to bypass or redefine the trustee system—demanding more information be disclosed, more decisions made publicly, and with accountability to a task force or special committee,” Iorg asserted.

“These demands ignore the legal, ethical and practical demands of entity leadership in today’s challenging legal and media environments.”

Methods outside of the trustee system in recent years amounted to “public governance,” where publicized information led to messenger decisions on the annual meeting floor, he said.

Those steps of “bypassing board governance and defying legal counsel” had some unintended consequences.

“While the trustee system has its weaknesses, its overall track record is far superior to other approaches,” Iorg insisted.

Transparent to whom?

“The proposed plan rests on the conviction that Southern Baptists demand transparency to their elected trustees—not public disclosure of all information. We have identified 14 ways in the new plan that require more specific reporting by trustees on entity operations. These will be reported in an annual report to Southern Baptists by each entity.”

In addition to reinforcing dependence on trustee governance, the proposed plan promotes consistency with SBC governing documents, updates requirements on key issues as well as legal and accounting language and provides more specific reporting mechanisms than the current one, Iorg said.

It remains a “living document” that can be amended as needed. Although it will not be amended, per se, at the Executive Committee meeting preceding the 2025 SBC annual meeting next week in Dallas, one editing correction will be noted in its final recommendation, he said.

Per the demand of Southern Baptists, trustees receive access to information about their entity to make vital decisions and do this “not as an alien force inflicted on us by an outside authority,” Iorg said. “They are our colleagues and friends.”

Trustees are selected through a process that originates with the SBC president.

In succession:

• That person appoints two individuals from each state or regional convention to make up the SBC Committee on Committees.
• That group then also appoints two persons from each state or regional convention to form the SBC Committee on Nominations.
• The SBC Committee on Nominations provides names of potential trustees for all SBC entities.

Messengers give the final vote of approval at the SBC annual meeting.

Iorg: Confidentiality ‘essential’

Iorg cited the confidentiality afforded to Golden Gate Theological Seminary’s board as “essential” to the school’s successful rebranding to Gateway Seminary and relocation 400 miles southward along the California coast.

An oppositional group had prevented an earlier move through “picketers, public attacks, legal actions and political maneuvering,” he said.

The school’s board worked for more than a year and ultimately approved approximately $150 million in real estate transactions, plus moving expenses and other aspects connected to the rebranding.

Closed-door meetings brought extra layers of transparency among board members in much the same way church deacons and elders conduct business, Iorg said, to be “an SBC board functioning at its finest.”

The proposed business and financial plan accents the transparency afforded to messenger-approved Southern Baptists serving in those roles, Iorg said.

“Boards do their most important work behind the scenes. They handle tough issues, make personnel decisions, debate financial expenditures and make choices based on information they—and often no one outside the board—have available to them,” he said.

“They listen to attorneys, accountants, consultants, executives and other experts who advise them. Their decisions are based on the information they have, not the information they publicly disclose. And, no matter how controversial, they are legally bound to base their decisions on what’s best for their entity—not what the public response may be.”

FORT WORTH (RNS)—For much of the past decade, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons.

Once the nation’s largest seminary, and one of six Southern Baptist seminaries, the school has been a center of controversy since the 2018 firing of its former president, Paige Patterson, for mishandling a claim of sexual abuse by a female student at a previous job.

Since then, the school has ousted a second president, who then sued the school; admitted to overspending its budget by $140 million; fought in court with ex-employees over a foundation that supported the school; dealt with a Department of Justice investigation; and experienced internal board conflict over declining enrollment and fiscal crisis.

From financial crisis to ‘genuine stability’

By the time David Dockery, a soft-spoken but well-respected Baptist leader, was named the school’s interim president in 2022, the school was out of cash.

“In September of 2022, we had $4.2 million of short-term debt with the credit line maxed out, and wondering if we were going to be able to navigate our way even through that particular academic year,” Dockery told RNS in a recent interview.

Today, the school is in a place of “genuine stability,” according to Dockery, 72, who dropped the interim from his title in 2023.

Enrollment is up, the school has paid off its short-term debt and has $10 million in cash on hand. More importantly, perhaps, the trustees and school administration are on the same page.

“The spirit on campus is positive, and people are encouraged about the direction of the seminary,” Dockery said.

Solid ‘track record’ of handling crisis

“I’m not surprised at all that Southwestern has stabilized under him,” said Barry Hankins, a Baylor University historian. “He just has a track record of being able to do that.”

Before coming to Southwestern, Dockery was president of Union University in Jackson, Tenn., and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School outside Chicago. And besides a reputation as a solid scholar, according to Hankins, he had a history of effective leadership, including dealing with crisis.

In 2008, a devastating tornado hit Union, causing $40 million in damage, destroying most of the dorms and leaving much of the campus covered in rubble. Dockery helped rally the campus, got students back in classes within a few weeks and started to rebuild.

During the recovery, Dockery said he learned some essential lessons, such as the importance of community prayer, clear communication and working together. Union also committed itself to what Dockery called an “essential mindset”—focusing on its most important tasks.

“Our response was a team effort, led by a group of seasoned administrators who were all deeply committed to Union, who knew and trusted each other, and almost all of whom had worked together at Union for at least ten years,” he said in an email.

“We understood each other’s strengths and weaknesses and worked harmoniously and seamlessly together.”

Addressed the campus culture

It also helped that there was no one to blame for causing the crisis—which was not the case when Dockery took over at Southwestern. Most of the senior leaders were new to their roles. Trust was hard to come by, and there was little unity on campus. That has made rebuilding harder.

“Not everyone was cheering for us because there was confusion both on campus, among the board, and among constituents as to what had happened and why it had taken place,” he said.

Early on, Dockery set out to address the campus culture. He and other leaders organized weekly prayer meetings and set out core values, designed to help create what he called a “grace filled” work culture. Dockery also borrowed from his time at Union in getting people to work together on the essentials.

He said that the weekly prayer meetings have helped build trust—as did holding open meetings with faculty and staff each semester to share information and answer questions.

“We asked everyone across the campus to set aside personal agendas, to cease working in silos and to work together as collaboratively as possible for the overall good of the institution,” he said.

Ed Stetzer, dean of Talbot School of Theology at Biola University, called the turnaround at Southwestern “remarkable.”

“Southwestern was once the largest seminary in the world, but just a few years ago people were unsure it would make it,” Stetzer said.

“David Dockery has consistently had the confidence of Southern Baptists, and he’s used his influence to bring Southwestern back from the brink and into the future.”

Put financial controls in place

Along with addressing the culture at Southwestern, Dockery also helped put in place a new policy manual for the board, which included more oversight of the school’s finances by the school’s board of trustees, something that had been lacking in the past.

In 2023, the trustees issued a report detailing two decades of fiscal mismanagement, including the $140 million operating deficit. According to the report, Southwestern ran an average deficit of $6.67 million each year from 2002 to 2023. That mismanagement resulted in sanctions from its accreditor, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

The new manual puts more controls in place, said Dockery, who credited board member John Rayburn for leading that process.

In 2022, the school finished $9 million in the red, Dockery said. This year, the school will break even and is awaiting word of whether the sanctions from its accreditor will be lifted.

Fixing the school’s finances also meant selling off some of the seminary’s property. In 2023, the school sold a 20-acre property for about $14 million, which helped eliminate its debt.

Southwestern retains considerable assets, including a $160 million endowment and more than 150 acres of property. The challenge now, Dockery said, is to use those assets well.

Seeking to build a sustainable future

The school currently has a head count of 650 in its master of divinity program. Counting part-time and full-time students, they add up to 346 full-time slots, according to data from the Association of Theological Schools.

The school’s largest program is a master’s program with 1,018 students, with a full-time equivalent of 420, whereas its doctor of ministry program has 308 students and an FTE of 92.

The school had its largest graduation since 2002, with 415 students this May. Southwestern also announced that it had revised its Master of Divinity program so it can be completed in less time.

Now that the school is stable, the next task is to make sure the school has a plan for a sustainable and healthy future.

“We have ongoing work to do to be in a place of what I would say is institutional health and flourishing, and so we’re working toward those ends,” he said.

NASHVILLE (BP)—The Southern Baptist Convention and other defendants lost an appeal in a Tennessee district court but have appealed to the Tennessee Supreme Court.

The case, Preston Garner et. al. v. Southern Baptist Convention et. al., regards an inquiry made by the SBC Credentials Committee in the course of following up on a confidential report made to the SBC’s abuse hotline.

Preston Garner, a longtime worship pastor and school music teacher, and his wife Kellie filed suit in 2023 against the SBC, Guidepost Solutions, the SBC Executive Committee, the SBC Credentials Committee and Executive Committee staff member Christy Peters, who serves as the SBC’s committee relations manager.

The Garners are alleging defamation/libel and slander, defamation by implication, invasion of privacy and loss of consortium.

The SBC and others named in the lawsuit have argued for dismissal of the suit, asserting the case falls under the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine, which holds a court cannot resolve disputes that involve religious doctrine.

They also assert the case falls under the Tennessee Public Participation Act, which provides protection against legal action that is “based on, relates to, or is in response to that party’s exercise of the right to free speech, right to petition, or right of association.”

In January 2024, Blount County (Tenn.) Judge David Duggan denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss, ruling that neither the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine nor the Tennessee Public Participation Act applied in the case.

The defendants appealed, and in January of this year, the Tennessee Court of Appeals agreed with Duggan in part and disagreed in part.

It agreed the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine does not apply. However, it also said, “We conclude that the trial court erred in finding that the TPPA does not apply to this case and reverse that portion of the judgment.”

The defendants appealed to the Tennessee Supreme Court March 10.

What led to the lawsuit

The SBC’s abuse hotline, maintained by Guidepost Solutions, received a report in 2022 from a woman claiming Garner had sexually abused her 12 years prior when he was serving as interim pastor of Englewood Baptist Church in Rocky Mount, N.C. Guidepost relayed the information to the SBC Credentials Committee.

On Jan. 7, 2023, Peters sent a letter on behalf of the Credentials Committee to Everett Hills Baptist Church in Maryville, Tenn., where Garner was then employed as worship pastor.

The letter informed the church that the committee had “a concern regarding the relationship between Everett Hills Baptist Church in Maryville, Tennessee, and the Southern Baptist Convention. Specifically, the concern is that the church may employ an individual with an alleged history of abuse.”

The letter asked questions about Everett Hills’ hiring practices and about Garner’s current employment status there and asked the church to respond within 30 days.

At the time the letter was sent, Garner also was employed as a music teacher at The King’s Academy, a Christian school. He had recently resigned from Everett Hills and was set to take another position at First Baptist Church of Concord, Tenn.

He claims the letter and subsequent fallout caused First Baptist Concord to withdraw its offer of employment and caused The King’s Academy to suspend him and ultimately terminate his employment.

How the SBC Credentials Committee works

The SBC’s Credentials Committee, which was repurposed into a standing committee in 2019, is tasked with considering questions that arise as to whether a church is in “friendly cooperation” with the SBC per criteria spelled out in the SBC Constitution.

One of the ways a church can be found not in friendly cooperation is to act “in a manner inconsistent with the convention’s beliefs regarding sexual abuse.”

According to SBC.net, “The Credentials Committee may make inquiries of a church, but may not exercise any authority over a church through an investigation or other process that would violate Article IV of the SBC Constitution.”

The committee makes judgments based on its inquiries and can recommend that the SBC Executive Committee deem a church “not in friendly cooperation.” Such action has been taken by the Executive Committee based on the recommendation of the Credentials Committee several times the past few years.

(RNS)—Gareld Duane Rollins, whose lawsuit accusing a powerful Southern Baptist leader of abuse sparked a crisis in the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, died May 23.

“The abuse he suffered by those touting their religion is unimaginable,” said Michael Goldberg, an attorney for law firm Baker Botts, which represented Rollins. “This could not have happened if not for supposed good people keeping quiet. There are no innocent bystanders.”

News of Rollins’ death was first made public by journalist Robert Downen, who had covered Rollins’ lawsuit against Texas judge Paul Pressler, an influential Southern Baptist Convention lay leader, for years.

Downen, a senior writer for Texas Monthly, said Rollins, who had long suffered from health issues and was in his late 50s, had been in hospice care the last time the two had talked. Still, his death came as a shock.

“His life was cut short just as he was freeing himself from the thing that had defined him for so long,” Downen said.

The two had met by happenstance. Downen had been working at a courthouse as a reporter for the Houston Chronicle when he came across a notice about a filing in Rollins’ lawsuit against Pressler. It would lead to years of reporting about the case and abuse in the SBC.

Downen said Rollins was a person of deep faith, which sustained his long battle to recover from abuse. His story also was complicated. Rollins had dealt with addiction for years and had served time in prison, and few people believed his story of abuse at the hands of a powerful faith leader.

But he shared his story with Downen, starting in 2019.

“He really trusted me—when there were all the reasons in the world to be totally distrustful,” Downen said.

Alleged continued abuse and cover-up

In 2017, Rollins sued Pressler, who died in 2024, alleging years of sexual abuse by the judge, who had been Rollins’ mentor and Bible study teacher. Rollins also alleged that church leaders knew of the abuse and covered it up to protect Pressler’s reputation.

During that lawsuit, Rollins revealed he had sued Pressler in 2004, claiming Pressler assaulted him at a hotel room, and he said Pressler had agreed to pay $450,000 to settle the suit.

Rollins sued for a second time after Pressler reneged on the settlement, alleging the judge had begun sexually abusing him as a teenager.

“According to Rollins’s suit, Pressler began molesting him after they met at a Bible study group led by Pressler,” reads a description of the abuse allegations in a Texas appeals court ruling.

“Pressler told Rollins that the sexual abuse was divinely sanctioned but needed to be kept secret because only God would understand it.”

By the time Rollins came forward with abuse allegations, the civil statute of limitations had run out and his lawsuit was dismissed by a lower court.

But the Texas Supreme Court overruled in 2022, after Rollins’ lawyers successfully argued that trauma from abuse had suppressed Rollins’ memories for years.

The lawsuit, which was settled in 2023, undermined much of the mythology that had grown around Pressler during the so-called conservative resurgence in the Southern Baptist Convention.

Pressler was one of the key architects of the resurgence and was long known as a GOP activist who railed against what he saw as the moral decay of America.

Pressler long claimed he left a Texas Presbyterian church where he’d been a youth leader to return to help the SBC save itself from liberals. But documents filed in the lawsuit revealed Pressler had been fired from the church after a teenager accused him of abuse.

Documents also revealed First Baptist Church in Houston had warned Pressler in 2004 to stop his habit of naked hot tubbing with young men after one of them accused Pressler of sexual misconduct. Other young men also alleged abuse by Pressler as the lawsuit made its way through the courts.

Prompted the ‘Abuse of Faith’ investigative report

Rollins’ lawsuit inspired Downen and other reporters from the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News to launch “Abuse of Faith,” an investigation that found hundreds of cases of abuse in the SBC.

That opened the door for the denomination’s 2022 Guidepost report, which found SBC leaders had tried to downplay the severity of abuse in the SBC for years—and had mistreated survivors who came forward.

That report led to a series of reforms meant to address abuse in the SBC, and to SBC leaders apologizing to abuse survivors.

Over the Memorial Day weekend, abuse survivors and advocates paid tribute to Rollins.

“Duane was the courageous survivor who brought truth to light about the many crimes and abuses of the infamous Paul Pressler,” wrote activist and abuse survivor Christa Brown in commenting on Rollins’ passing on her Substack.

“He did it at enormous personal cost and despite decades of unfathomable suffering. We all owe Duane a debt of gratitude. Truth matters.”

Downen said Rollins had often wanted to give up during his long legal struggle but persevered because he knew the power his story could have.

“Duane did not come forward because he wanted a reckoning in the Southern Baptist Convention. He came forward because he needed to, and he wanted justice after a lifetime of trauma,” Downen said.

“His story shows how simply doing the right thing can have profound impact on people across the world.”