Evangelical Apocalypse | Dale M. Coulter | First Things

It was only a matter of time before journalists dove into an evangelical institution to find skeletons of sexual abuse in locked file cabinets. In the wake of revelations last May surrounding Paige Patterson, the former president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Al Mohler warned the Southern Baptist Convention and the evangelical world that judgment had come. He did not know that the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News had already begun an investigation. Now, the articles have begun to appear.

Many writers—Mohler included—have identified a number of problems that created a conducive climate for sexual abuse. The problems can be classified in three ways: open networks, denominational culture, and bad theology.Many have underscored the Chronicle’s claim that local church autonomy present in Baptist polity has allowed sexual predators to move freely from church to church. Another issue is how easily Baptist ministers are ordained. Since local churches ordain, one has only to secure the endorsement of any church in good standing with the convention, regardless of how small or remote it is.

But the problem extends beyond the Southern Baptist Convention. As one denominational leader pointed out to me, ministers brought up on charges and dismissed from one denomination have simply gone to another for credentials. It’s not just laity who take advantage of evangelicalism’s big tent to move around.These open networks for ministerial movement from one part of evangelicalism to another allow sexual abusers to escape judgment and start over. We don’t need a database of sexual abusers for the Southern Baptist Convention, we need it for evangelicalism as a whole. We need greater cooperation and transparency among evangelical churches and institutions on matters of church discipline so we can close these open networks.

Source: Evangelical Apocalypse | Dale M. Coulter | First Things