How are NC leaders responding to SBC list of accused sex abusers?
Welcome to the 9th edition of North Carolina Religion Roundup: the SBC, medical marijuana, solar power, and more.
Happy Friday! Thanks for reading the 9th edition of North Carolina Religion Roundup, a newsletter that highlights major religion news and trends in the Triangle and greater NC. I’m a reporter covering community colleges, postsecondary access, and faith at EducationNC, and a M.Div. student at Duke Divinity School. (If you’re interested, you can read more about the newsletter and why I started it here.)
Welcome to the first shorter edition of the roundup, which will go out every other cycle and include a more detailed list of religion stories to follow. As always, I’d love any thoughts or feedback regarding parts of the roundup you particularly like, and/or anything you’d like to see in the future. Plus, I’d love it if you’d share this newsletter with a friend.
Thanks for following along. Happy reading!
This week:
In a Nutshell, I highlight some NC religion stories to keep an eye on, starting with how NC faith leaders have responded to the most recent development in the SBC sexual abuse scandal.
And in What I’m Reading, I include my favorite religion reads this week.
In a Nutshell:
Southern Baptists and the NC pastors on the denomination’s list of hundreds of leaders accused of sex abuse
Last week, Southern Baptist Convention leaders released a list containing the names of hundreds of ministers and church workers who were accused of sexual abuse.
The list was part of a 288-page report produced by Guidepost Solutions, a private investigations firm hired by the organization, which alleged that top Baptist leaders covered up allegations of sexual abuse within the SBC for years. This follows a 2019 investigation by the Houston Chronicle which identified nearly 700 victims.
Last week’s report revealed a member of the executive committee maintained a list of accused ministers in Baptist churches since 2007. The list contained the names of 703 accused abusers, with 409 of those likely affiliated with Southern Baptist churches.
More than 30 people on this list worked in North Carolina churches, the News & Observer reported. Here’s a link to that list.
In response to the report, the Southern Baptist task force has requested a list of reforms it hopes could help curb sexual abuse, but churches and state conventions would not be required to use the resources. In November 2021, the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina said it would conduct a review of their “policies, procedures and materials related to sexual abuse awareness, prevention and reporting.” The convention is independent from the SBC. Guidepost is scheduled to present its findings to the state convention’s board in September.
“If we get the same type of calls, we want to be equipped to respond well,” Micheal Pardue, president of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina and pastor of First Baptist Icard in Connelly Springs, told the N&O.
Other Baptist NC leaders have called for change within the denomination in the past, including J.D. Greear, pastor of the Summit Church, who also served as SBC president from 2018 to 2021. Here are comments from NC Christian leaders following the release of the report:
From Greear:
The thread continued: “It should not have been this way. Southern Baptists rightfully expected more, and deserved more, from their leaders. Our failures put survivors in a position where they were forced to fight for themselves when we should have been fighting for them. / The church should be a place where people know they are safe and where leaders are who they say they are. Jesus’ gospel declares that God is a refuge for all who run to him, and the posture of our leaders toward abuse victims should reflect that. / Protecting the vulnerable is not a distraction from the mission, it is our mission.”
A few days later, on May 25, Greear also tweeted: “Some weeks it seems like the news comes faster than our hearts can keep up. But tragedies and systemic failures do not get the last word. God will wipe every tear from our eyes, and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain. In the midst of hurt, there is hope.”
From Danny Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary:
Akin also tweeted a link to hotline for those affected by sexual abuse within Southern Baptist churches. The number is 202-864-5578.
Ronnie Parrott, a NC pastor who helped draft the motion that led to the explosive report:
From Sharon Hodde Miller, NC pastor at Bright City Church:
From Robyn Henderson-Espinoza, theologian and professor at Duke Divinity:
And from Jay Augustine, senior pastor of St. Joseph AME Church in Durham, in a Reckon article following the report: “When people can no longer turn to the church, because your trusted leaders are engaging in those sorts of improprieties, it is the worst of the worst.”
Christian opposition to medical marijuana
Medical marijuana legalization passed the NC Senate with bipartisan support on Thursday. The bill passed through a key committee in the state Senate on Wednesday despite opposition from two conservative Christian advocacy groups, the N&O reported. The Family Policy Council and Christian Action League said there is little research into the medical uses of marijuana, and claimed there is more research about its potential negative effects. The bill’s lead sponsor, Sen. Bill Rabon (R-Brunswick County) said Wednesday that polling shows more than 80% of North Carolinians support medical marijuana, including more than 70% of Republicans and more than 70% of evangelical Christians.
Triangle community remembers Rabbi Steven Sager
Rabbi Steven Gary Sager, a leader in the Triangle Jewish community, died May 15 at age 71 from pancreatic cancer. Sager served 32 years as rabbi and 12 years as rabbi emeritus at Beth El Synagogue in Durham. His funeral, the N&O reported, “drew hundreds to honor and remember a man dedicated to teaching others about the beauty, storytelling and poetry in his faith.”
More N.C. communities of faith going solar thanks to 2017 law
Dozens of faith communities in North Carolina have gone solar in recent years, Energy News Network reported, buoyed by a 2017 law requiring Duke Energy to offer rebates to nonprofits. Still, the article says: “congregations with solar panels represent a tiny fraction of the state’s roughly 15,000 churches, synagogues, and mosques. And with Duke’s cash-back program expiring this year, many believe a new policy is needed to help more religious institutions realize their mission of environmental stewardship.”
Media coverage of Muslims
In examining media coverage of Muslims over a 21-year period, in the US, UK, Canada and Australia, scholars found that articles mentioning Muslims were far more negative than other faith groups. The study, shared via Religion News Service, doesn’t explicitly talk about North Carolina’s media landscape, but its findings are worth considering for media and media consumers alike. Read more here.
Local efforts to resettle Afghan refugees
Afghans who fled during the U.S. withdrawal from the country eight months ago are still arriving, INDY reported last month, and Triangle resettlement agencies are still helping evacuees resettle. Faith organizations are among those groups, including Christian humanitarian nonprofit World Relief Durham. Local volunteers helped furnish apartments for incoming families. “We want to make the house just as perfect as we can,” Nancy Cook, who prepares homes for Church World Service, told INDY.
Independent rabbinical schools
A growing number of Jews are declaring no particular affiliation to either the Reform or Conservative movements. Some, RNS reported, prefer independent rabbinical schools, like Durham resident Rachel Posner. She grew up a Conservative movement Jew, but when she decided to go back to school to become a rabbi she chose the independent Academy for Jewish Religion in Yonkers, New York. Posner is an intern at Beth El Synagogue in Durham, a Conservative synagogue.
School closures on Diwali
A national Hindu leader is calling for all Raleigh schools to close Oct. 24 to observe the Hindu holiday of Diwali. Rajan Zed, the president of the Universal Society of Hinduism, said in a May statement it “was simply not fair” for Hindu students in Raleigh to have classes on Diwali while schools are closed during festivals of other religions. Wake County Schools said its calendar committee tries to honor community requests while maintaining instructional integrity and following state law. Wake students can get an excused absence for a religious observance, but are expected to make up the work they missed.
~What I’m reading ~
Uvalde Community Worships Together on First Sunday Since School Shooting Claimed 21 Lives, by Jasmine Aguilera for TIME
Ten-year-old Eliahna “Ellie” Garcia was planning to recite a Bible verse, Deuteronomy 6:18, the Primera Iglecia Bautista’s (First Baptist Church’s) Sunday service on May 29. But plans changed after a gunman entered Robb Elementary School on May 24, killing her and 18 of her classmates and two teachers. Instead, three of her friends from Sunday school recited the verse in her honor, with a picture of Ellie projected behind them.
That’s how the haunting story begins, the rest of it detailing the first Sunday since the Uvalde shooting, where 85% of people identify as some denomination of Christianity. TIME attended four church services and documented them in the piece, including a Spanish service. This piece is hard to read, but a powerful look at how people turn to faith for comfort during times of impossible pain and suffering.
A group gathers to remember the shooting victims from Robb Elementary in Uvalde, May 27, 2022. David Butow / TIME
Walking With a Modern-Day Moses, by Charles M. Blow for the Washington Post
…When he looks at you and talks to you, you know that he possesses something at his core that eludes most others: surety. His sense of purpose and vision for his life is unobscured and unencumbered. This is a man on a mission, the grandest and most noble of missions: to save a country and his countrymen from themselves, to insist that morality ought to dictate policy.
Barber, to me, is a modern-day Moses.
He not only follows in the footsteps of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King; he venerates him, often invoking him, and actively seeks to extend his work.
That’s describing the Rev. William Barber II — “a holy warrior at a time when secular activism is ascendant,” the column says — a pastor from Goldsboro, NC and co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign. Barber is frequently covered in news media for his political work, but his faith and theology isn’t often so extensively explored as in this article.
That's it for this week's edition of North Carolina Religion Roundup. Thanks for reading. Until next time. And in the meantime, I gladly welcome any tips, feedback or news you think I haven’t included but should in future editions. — Hannah