The Southern Baptist Convention has officially kicked out seven churches from its organization after reports came in from an abuse hotline that was launched back in May 2022.
Jeff Iorg, who is serving as SBC Executive Committee President, issued comments to members of the committee on Monday, going on to discuss the SBC’s response to claims of abuse made from within member churches.
Since the establishment of the hotline in 2022, there have been a total of 1,008 contacts. Out of that number, 674 were allegations of abuse. Out of that statistic, 458 were allegations that concerned Southern Baptists, while a total of 216 were not about churches or individuals within the SBC organization.
Iorg revealed that a total of 128 cases were then referred to the SBC Credentials Committee, which either already has or is in the process of investigating all of these cases.
“Iorg said that, as a result, seven churches had been deemed to be ‘not in friendly cooperation’ with the SBC and were removed from membership ‘based on their responses to the Credentials Committee on these issues,'” the Christian Post reported.
“Sexual abuse is a serious and real problem,” Iorg stated. “And when it happens, it is devastating for the survivors, the church, the community, and every person who is involved.”
“Every church must make every reasonable effort to prevent sexual abuse and respond proactively when it happens. We are committed to these standards at the Executive Committee: no tolerance for abuse, and every church a safe place for the vulnerable,” he continued.
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He then issued a warning to executive committee members, saying that “the hotline data does not define the full scope of the problem,” and that the SBC must stay “ever vigilant” on this particularly uncomfortable issue.
“While we fully acknowledge reported incidents of sexual abuse, we also reject the false narrative that ‘Southern Baptist churches are dangerous places for children,’” Iorg added.
“Iorg noted that while the hotline reported an average of 13 contacts and five referrals per month over the past two years, this was out of approximately 12 million Southern Baptists and 47,000 member churches,” the article said.
While Iorg did not reveal the names of the seven congregations that have been removed from the SBC during the course of the last two years, it’s being reported that Grove Road Baptist Church in Greenville, South Carolina, and West Hendersonville Baptist Church in Hendersonville, North Carolina, were all given the boot in Feb. 2024 due to mishandling claims of sexual abuse.
“Since the release of the Guidepost report, the SBC has pursued various efforts to improve its response to credible allegations of abuse within member congregations,” the report read.
In fall 2024, the SBC EC voted in favor of creating a new department with the mission of tackling and finding ways of preventing sexual abuse in churches. It all came about due to a vote at the organization’s annual meeting last June, which requested the creation of a more permanent entity to help respond to and prevent abuse.
“Jeff Dalrymple, the former executive director of the Evangelical Council for Abuse Prevention, who is also a Southern Baptist, was appointed by the executive committee to head the new department,” the report concluded.