A new ministry check “abuser” database will become a reality, reported Marshall Blalock, chair of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force.
Until now “there has been no cooperative mechanism to prevent abusers from going to place to place … so this is an unprecedented, significant moment,” he shared during the Monday (Feb. 20) evening plenary session of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.
Public record of ‘credibly accused’
The ministry check website will be administered by Faith-Based Solutions, a new division of Guidepost Solutions, and will be a public record of “pastors, denominational workers, ministry employees and volunteers who have at any time been credibly accused of sexual abuse and who have been or are associated with a cooperating Southern Baptist church or entity,” said Blalock, noting the SBC Credentials Committee has approved the move.
The timeline for when the database will be online is unclear but contract negotiations are underway. Full details for how the task force members decided on Faith-Based Solutions, the goal for how the website will function and the definition of “credibly accused” can be found on the task force website here.
An archive of previous coverage of the task force and its work can be found here.
