NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention said Friday that several of the denomination’s main entities are under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice in the wake of its multiple issues related to clergy sexual abuse.
The SBC Executive Committee has received a subpoena, but no one has been subpoenaed at this time, according to the committee’s lawyers.
“This is an ongoing investigation and we are not commenting on our discussions with the DOJ,” they said.
The statement from SBC leaders, including members of the Executive Committee, seminary presidents and heads of mission organizations, gave few details about the investigation, but indicated that it dealt with widespread sexual abuse issues that have shook the largest Protestant denomination in the United States.
“Individually and collectively, each SBC entity is committed to fully and completely cooperating with the investigation,” the statement said. “While we continue to mourn and regret past mistakes related to sexual abuse, the current leaders of the SBC have demonstrated a strong conviction to address these past issues and are implementing measures to ensure they never happen again in the future.”
There was no immediate comment from the Justice Department on the investigation.
Earlier this year, an SBC sexual abuse task force released a 288-page report by an outside consultant, Guidepost Solutions. The company’s seven-month independent investigation found disturbing details about how denominational leaders mishandled sexual abuse claims and mistreated victims.
The report focused specifically on how the SBC Executive Committee responded to cases of abuse, revealing that it had kept secret a list of clergy and other church workers accused of abuse. The committee later apologized and published the list, which included hundreds of accused workers.
A Guidepost spokesman declined to comment on news of the DOJ investigation.
After the Guidepost report was published, the SBC voted during its annual meeting in June to create a way to track pastors and other church workers credibly accused of sexual abuse and launch a new task force to oversee new reforms. Earlier this week, SBC President Bart Barber, who also signed Friday’s statement, announced the names of Southern Baptist pastors and church members who will serve on the task force.
Southern Baptist sex abuse survivor Christa Brown, who has long called for the SBC to do more to address sex abuse in its churches, welcomed news of the DOJ investigation.
“Hallelujah It’s about time,” Brown said in a Friday post on Twitter. “This is what it takes.”
Another survivor, Jules Woodson, went public with her story of abuse in 2018 and has since pushed for reforms at the SBC. On Friday, he reacted to news of the investigation by tweeting: “May justice be served!!!”
Oklahoma pastor Mike Keahbone, who serves on the Executive Committee and is the vice chair of the new abuse task force, said on Twitter that the investigation “is not something to fear… If there is more work to be done , we will do it.”.
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Crary reported from New York. Associated Press reporter Deepa Bharath in Los Angeles contributed.
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