The 3 - February 17, 2018

This week's edition of The 3, featuring three stories of relevance to the Christian community, includes a report on action by lawmakers in Mississippi on legislation that would prevent abortion after a heartbeat is detected.  Also, a Louisiana college has withdrawn from a national consortium of Christian schools.  And, response continues to unfold regarding reports of abuse in churches affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention.

3 - Mississippi lawmakers pass bills limiting abortion past the time an unborn child's heartbeat is detected

There was notable pro-life activity in both chambers of the Legislature in Mississippi this past week, as both the House and the Senate passed "heartbeat bills," that ban abortion after an unborn child's heartbeat is detected.

WREG Television in Memphis reported:

The Republican-controlled Mississippi House and Senate passed separate bills Wednesday to ban most abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, about six weeks into pregnancy. Efforts to pass similar bills are underway in Florida, Kentucky, Ohio, South Carolina and Tennessee. 

“I see in this country that we protect sea turtle eggs and we protect other endangered species of animals with a greater degree of scrutiny and zealousness than we protect a child in the womb,” Republican Sen. Angela Hill, a sponsor of the Mississippi bill, said as she fought back tears during a debate.

Now, the two chambers have to pass the same bill, according to the television station, which stated: "The House and Senate must agree on a single version to send to Republican Gov. Phil Bryant, who is in his final year in office. He said he would sign it." The article quotes a tweet from the governor on Wednesday, "I’ve often said I want Mississippi to be the safest place for an unborn child in America..."

2 - Baptist school withdraws from college consortium due to LGBT accommodations

The Council of Christian Colleges and Universities is described as "a higher education association of more than 180 Christian institutions around the world," according to a story on Louisiana's Baptist Message website, which reports that Baptist-affiliated Louisiana College has withdrawn its membership.

The publication states:

The issue involves a policy passed by the CCCU board of directors which endorses so-called “Fairness for All” legislation which would add sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of federally-protected classes while also articulating protections for churches and religious organizations.

The story relates that:

Shirley Mullen, vice chair of the CCCU board and president of Houghton College, explained the CCCU position on LGBT protections as one of practicality for Christian higher education.

“[W]e are increasingly persuaded that the most viable political strategy is for comprehensive religious freedom protections to be combined with explicit support for basic human rights for members of the LGBT community,” she wrote in a position paper provided to the National Association of Evangelicals, a collaborator with CCCU in pushing for the controversial legislation.

Dave Welch, president of the U.S. Pastors' Council, which, as the article points out, helped lead the fight against Houston's so-called "Equal Rights Ordinance," spoke with The Christian Post, according to the Message, which reported:

Welch said equating “race, religion and (biological) sex to sexual behavior and mental instability” would open up a legal “Pandora’s Box” and in the end would result in “special rights for a few.”

“Christians who still actually believe and follow the authority of the entire canon of Holy Scripture” would be at risk of “civil and criminal punishment,” he said.

1 - Southern Baptists respond to newspaper investigation

Southern Baptists are continuing to speak out about instances of sexual abuse in congregations across the country, in light of a Houston Chronicle three-part series.  A Baptist Press on Friday reported on further developments and gave a summary of the series.  It stated:

The Chronicle stated in part one of its report that its investigation of sexual abuse among Southern Baptists revealed approximately 380 instances since 1998 -- including more than 250 since 2008 -- of "those who were convicted, credibly accused and successfully sued, and those who confessed or resigned." The crimes have left more than 700 victims, the newspaper stated.

Part two recounted crimes committed by some of the "at least 35 Southern Baptist pastors, youth ministers and volunteers who were convicted of sex crimes or accused of sexual misconduct but still were allowed to work at churches during the past two decades."

Part three claimed "more than 100 Southern Baptists described as former youth pastors or youth ministers are now in prison, are registered as sex offenders or have been charged with sex crimes."

One of the threads of commentary in the wake of the Chronicle article had to do with Sovereign Grace Ministries.  The Baptist Press article mentioned that: "Southern Baptist Convention seminary presidents R. Albert Mohler Jr. and Danny Akin have apologized for their former support of C.J. Mahaney, a pastor accused of concealing sexual abuse at the ministry he used to lead."

The article states:

Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, told the Chronicle in an interview published Feb. 14 he "erred in being part of a statement supportive of (Mahaney)." Mohler apparently was referencing a 2013 statement issued with Mark Dever and Ligon Duncan vouching for Mahaney's "personal integrity" after a judge dismissed most of a lawsuit against Sovereign Grace Ministries, a network of churches Mahaney led until April 2013. The network changed its name to Sovereign Grace Churches in 2014.

The suit alleged leaders at Sovereign Grace, including Mahaney, covered up child sexual abuse. The Maryland judge who dismissed the suit noted the statute of limitations had expired and didn't address the merits of the alleged victims' claims.

The Sovereign Grace issue had been brought up in an article on the Medium website that dropped a mere two weeks before the Houston Chronicle series, and it's worth reading.  A long-time, former board member of the ministry, Brent Detweiler, was prominently featured; the author says, "the evidence he compiled over the years regarding SGM, subsequent cover-ups, and fraudulent activity was extensive."  And, Detweiler has not been silent about what he had observed, informing Christian leaders, including some who have become vocal on abuse after the Chronicle series, about the evidence he had gathered.

Neither has former gymnast, now attorney Rachael Denhollender, who was the lead person in exposing Larry Nassar's sexual abuse.  The article says, "A prominent Christian figure and victim-turned-lawyer, Denhollander became an outspoken critic of Sovereign Grace. In a 2018 interview with Christianity Today, she stated that SGM and Mahaney’s involvement were “one of the worst, if not the worst, instances of evangelical cover-up of sexual abuse” and “one of the most well-documented cases of institutional cover-up I have ever seen.”

Meanwhile, former Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary president Paige Patterson, according to Baptist Press, "wrote a Feb. 14 letter to Chronicle acting editor Steve Riley claiming the paper 'slandered' him." The article says:

Part one of the Chronicle's report on Southern Baptists "slandered and totally misrepresented me, and in so doing ha[s] significantly harmed my ministry," Patterson wrote according to a copy of the letter he emailed journalists. "The events they report are tragic. However, there is no reason to punish the innocent with the wicked."

Patterson claims that he dealt strongly with an "ex-protege" mentioned in the article, and "defended his handling of alleged sexual assault cases at Southeastern and Southwestern," two Baptist seminaries that he led.  His response to allegations at Southeastern seminary was a key component to his dismissal at Southwestern. But, The Tennessean had reported that Patterson's attorney said the Southeastern student who was apparently victimized, wrote Patterson a letter of thanks for "being able to stay in school and for how the seminary handled it, he said."

The ramifications from this story will continue to emerge, and the response by the Convention's leaders will be especially important.