The most recent edition of The 3, featuring three stories of relevance to the Christian community, includes response by Christians to the tragic event in Texas at an elementary school, in which 19 children, 2 teachers, and the alleged shooter, lost their lives. Also, Southern Baptists are continuing to process the findings of a task force report on sexual abuse and how leadership dealt with it. Plus, the state of Virginia has a new law that strengthens language on protecting religious freedom.
Christian organizations minister to families of victims in Texas school shooting
People are continuing to respond to the tragic shooting in Uvalde, Texas, in which 19 elementary school students, 2 teachers, and the 18-year old young man responsible for the shooting lost their lives. Families are continuing to grieve and people across the nation are asking, "why?" and there is a search for answers.
In a piece at The Christian Post, Greg Laurie, who is heard on Faith Radio, shared that there is an even greater question; he writes:
At a time like this, we all collectively ask, "Why?"
Why did God allow this to happen?
The simple answer is, I don't know.
But here is what I do know — There are evil people who do incomprehensively evil things every day BECAUSE WE live in a fallen, sinful world. MOMENTS LIKE THESE ARE A REFLECTION ON THE EVIL OF MANY, NOT THE GOODNESS OF GOD.
He writes:
When I find myself not knowing why bad things happen, I fall back on what I do know.
THAT IS BECAUSE IN A MOMENT LIKE THIS THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION IS NOT “WHY?” BUT “WHO?” — WHO CAN WE RUN TO FOR HELP IN THE MIDST OF THIS BROKEN WORLD?
Churches in and around Uvalde have opened their doors to the grieving community. "I want you to know that we love you," said Pastor Tony Gruben of Baptist Temple Church.
Nathan Lorick of the Southern Baptist Convention of Texas told CBN's Faith Nation, that they're sending ministers to Uvalde. "We have deployed some staff members and chaplains," Lorick said. "We have a disaster relief feeding unit on the ground."
Billy Graham Rapid Response Team chaplains have also deployed to Uvalde to offer comfort and counsel to the families and other residents.
At BillyGraham.org, a story quoted a local pastor, who said: “It’s strange, but somehow I feel guilty that my granddaughter is alive, when so many other children died. But God knows why everything happened this way...” Those were the words of Pastor José René Martínez, who was allowed to take his granddaughter home from school before the shooting happened. The article goes on to say:
Like Pastor Martínez, most Uvaldians are struggling to make sense of the horrific tragedy that took place on Tuesday when an 18-year-old walked into an elementary school in this quiet Texan town and killed 19 fourth-graders and two teachers.In a crisis, we are reminded how Christians can represent Jesus and show His love. The story at the Billy Graham website shared the story of chaplain Jose Mena, who drove from San Antonio - he led a man to Christ at the city's Civic Center. He is quoted as saying: “People in Uvalde and in the whole world need to hear that the enemy is doing exactly what Jesus said he would do: steal, kill and destroy,” adding, “And they also need to hear that there is a God who loves them, who sees their tears and feels their pain, and who has sent His Son to die for us so that we don’t have to live in this valley of death forever.”
In this small town of just over 15,000 people, the shocking news has affected everyone, and crisis-trained chaplains from the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team (BG-RRT) are there to offer spiritual and emotional support for the community.
Southern Baptist Task Force on sex abuse releases report, Executive Committee responds
For years, Southern Baptist Convention leaders have been calling attention to the issue of sexual abuse within the denomination. At last year's annual meeting, the SBC voted to establish a Sexual Abuse Task Force to study the actions of the SBC Executive Committee over the last 20+ years concerning the issue. The report was issued on Sunday, May 22, and Baptist Press quoted from the report, conducted by a firm called Guidepost Solutions, hired by the task force. The report stated, "Our investigation revealed that, for many years, a few senior EC leaders, along with outside counsel, largely controlled the EC’s response to these reports of abuse. They closely guarded information about abuse allegations and lawsuits, which were not shared with EC Trustees, and were singularly focused on avoiding liability for the SBC to the exclusion of other considerations..." Baptist Press notes:
The report says that for the two decades within the scope of the investigation, survivors of abuse and other concerned Southern Baptists have been met with “resistance, stonewalling, and even outright hostility from some within the EC.”
One of the notable aspects of the report had to do with a list that was being kept by Executive Committee staff; Baptist Press says: "The report says that though high-level EC staff kept a list of reports of abuse among possible SBC pastors, it had no plans to act on behalf of survivors." The Baptist Paper reported on the release of that list last week - it quoted from a statement by Rolland Slade, SBC Executive Committee chairman, and Willie McLaurin, interim president and CEO of the SBC Executive Committee, that said, "Each entry in this list reminds us of the devastation and destruction brought about by sexual abuse. Our prayer is that the survivors of these heinous acts find hope and healing, and that churches will utilize this list proactively to protect and care for the most vulnerable among us.”
The Baptist Paper noted that the list had over 700 names on it, with just over 400 either definitely or possibly being "SBC-affiliated." That article says, "Our investigative team reviewed the list and conducted significant research to assess whether any of the alleged abusers were still associated with an SBC church. Based on these efforts, it appears that nine (9) people remain in active ministry or connected to ministry. Two (2) of those people appear to be associated with an SBC church. The remaining seven (7) appear to be associated with churches that are not SBC-affiliated. We will provide this information to the Credentials Committee for further review, including whether the seven additional churches mentioned above are in fact non-SBC affiliated."
Law enforcement certainly has a role in dealing with sexual abusers. So does the local church. It has been pointed that the Southern Baptist Convention supports autonomous local churches, so it would appear that primary responsibility for handing sex abuse claims would be local congregations, working in tandem with law enforcement.
Several of the people mentioned in the report have already issued statements challenging how they and their actions were portrayed in it.
The Task Force/Guidepost report offered several courses of action, likely to be taken up at the annual meeting of the SBC in Anaheim in about two weeks. Some of the recommendations include, according to Baptist Press:
- "an Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force, to "be appointed by the next SBC president to assist with the implementation of reform initiatives in our convention for a period of three years."
- the hiring of "a subject matter expert(s) to receive calls, provide initial guidance for reports of sexual abuse, and work with state conventions for training and educational opportunities."
- the recommendation that "all entity boards and standing committees have training regarding sexual abuse prevention and survivor care, as well as background checks as part of their orientation and selection."
Virginia religious freedom bill signed into law
Last last week, Governor Glenn Youngkin of Virginia signed a bill that, according to Alliance Defending Freedom's website, "clarifies that, under certain commonwealth statutes, the definition of 'religion' includes not just belief but expression and action as well...""...Virginia law forbids discrimination on the basis of religion in multiple contexts yet fails to define the actual term ‘religion,’ which can leave Virginians vulnerable to hostile reactions to expressions of their faith. We commend Gov. Youngkin and the Virginia General Assembly for resolving this ambiguity so that Virginians can freely live out their faith without fear of government punishment."
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