Rice Describes Abuse Issue as Weaponized at Annual Meeting

fact_check Facts

1. Willy Rice is the president of the Southern Baptist Convention.

2. Willy Rice is a pastor in Florida.

3. In 2022, the Southern Baptist Convention received a report from Guidepost Solutions.

4. The 2022 Guidepost Solutions report asserted that top Southern Baptist Convention leaders had minimized reports of sexual abuse by clergy, intimidated survivors, and stonewalled reforms.

5. The Southern Baptist Convention’s 2022 annual meeting passed a resolution apologizing to abuse survivors.

6. The Southern Baptist Convention’s 2022 annual meeting authorized reforms that included the creation of a database of credibly accused church workers.

7. Willy Rice, Southern Baptist Convention president

   Willy Rice portrayed the 2022 Guidepost Solutions report as a “snipe hunt.”

8. Willy Rice, Southern Baptist Convention president

   Willy Rice said some people with political motives “weaponized” the issue against the denomination.

9. Jack Graham is a pastor at a megachurch in Texas.

10. Jack Graham is a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention.

11. Jack Graham, former Southern Baptist Convention president

    Jack Graham denied there was ever a “systemic sexual abuse crisis” in the Southern Baptist Convention.

12. Jack Graham, former Southern Baptist Convention president

    Jack Graham posted on X: “The whole thing was a reckless hoax which has cost us not only millions of dollars but immeasurable damage to our witness.”

13. Tiffany Thigpen is a survivor of sexual abuse in the Southern Baptist Convention.

14. Tiffany Thigpen attended the 2022 Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting to advocate for reform.

15. Tiffany Thigpen has avoided recent Southern Baptist Convention meetings.

16. Willy Rice, Southern Baptist Convention president

    Willy Rice said churches should provide training on abuse prevention.

17. Willy Rice, Southern Baptist Convention president

    Willy Rice said churches should report “any hint of illegal activity to the appropriate authorities.”

18. Willy Rice, Southern Baptist Convention president

    Willy Rice said churches should care for victims.

19. Willy Rice, Southern Baptist Convention president

    Willy Rice said: “The sexual-abuse reform effort “absolutely was weaponized, just like the #MeToo movement in the secular culture was weaponized.”

20. Willy Rice compared the situation to sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

21. Willy Rice, Southern Baptist Convention president

    Willy Rice acknowledged in a news conference: “To the degree that there have ever been times that Baptist churches or Baptist institutions did not handle abuse correctly, that has damaged our witness.”

22. Willy Rice, Southern Baptist Convention president

    Willy Rice acknowledged in a news conference: “We have tried very hard over the last several years to correct that.”

23. Willy Rice held a news conference at the conclusion of the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting in Orlando, Florida.

24. Josh Powell was the sole opponent for Southern Baptist Convention president against Willy Rice.

25. The constitutional ban on SBC churches with women pastors requires ratification next year.

26. Christa Brown is a survivor of sexual abuse by a Southern Baptist Convention pastor.

27. Christa Brown is a longtime advocate for reforms in the Southern Baptist Convention.

28. Christa Brown, survivor and advocate

    Christa Brown said via email: “For clergy sex abuse survivors, there has never been anything to gain in speaking out. To the contrary, it almost always comes with a heavy personal cost.”

29. Christa Brown, survivor and advocate

    Christa Brown said via email: “There's no political agenda.”

30. Christa Brown, survivor and advocate

    Christa Brown said via email: “There is no place within the SBC where someone who was sexually abused by a pastor or church worker can safely report it and get a proper response.”

31. Christa Brown, survivor and advocate

    Christa Brown said she has been working within the arena of sexual abuse reform for over two decades.

32. The Southern Baptist Convention’s 2022 annual meeting authorized the creation of a task force to oversee reforms.

33. The task force authorized by the Southern Baptist Convention in 2022 was discontinued without creating the database.

34. The task force was discontinued due in part to liability concerns.

35. The issue of the database was turned over to the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee.

36. The Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee is referring churches to existing sex-offender databases.

37. The Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee is focusing on abuse prevention and education.

38. Christa Brown, survivor and advocate

    Christa Brown said: “Sexual abuse committed by clergy carries unique dynamics (and this is something that most SBC leaders just don’t seem to understand... or don’t want to understand).”

39. Jules Woodson is a survivor who advocated for Southern Baptist Convention abuse reforms at past meetings.

40. Jules Woodson, survivor

    Jules Woodson said on X she has since needed to “step far away as it became apparent the #SBC has never been, & will never be, a safe place for me...A woman.”

41. A 2019 report titled “Abuse of Faith” was published by the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News.

42. The 2019 “Abuse of Faith” report found that about 380 Southern Baptist church leaders and volunteers faced allegations of sexual abuse in the previous two decades.

43. The 2019 “Abuse of Faith” report found more than 700 victims of sexual abuse by Southern Baptist church leaders and volunteers.

44. The Southern Baptist Convention has more than 40,000 churches.

45. The Southern Baptist Convention has millions of members.

46. A report on the Catholic Church was conducted by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

47. The John Jay College of Criminal Justice report found that more than 4,000 priests were accused of abuse between 1950 and 2002.

48. The John Jay College of Criminal Justice report found that about 4% of priests serving between 1950 and 2002 were accused of abuse.

49. The Guidepost Solutions report concluded that survivors repeatedly met resistance, stonewalling, and hostility from some in the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee.

50. The Guidepost Solutions report said leaders of major churches failed to report abusers to police or their congregations.

51. Two individuals named in the Guidepost Solutions report sued the Southern Baptist Convention for defamation.

52. The defamation cases against the Southern Baptist Convention are pending.