Stories tagged with: sexual abuse

• Cedarville University reinstates Thomas White; Akin, Vroegop resign from trustee board

  by Jonathan Howe, posted Friday, June 26, 2020 (2 years ago)

  

  CEDARVILLE, Ohio (BP) -- The Cedarville University Board of Trustees reinstated Thomas White as president Friday (June 26). White had been on administrative leave since May 1, following the controversial hiring and firing of a faculty member accused of sexual abuse.

  The reinstatement comes as the result of independent investigations into both the hiring of Anthony Moore and Moore's conduct while employed at the independent Baptist school. According to a statement by the board, Husch Blackwell LLP -- the firm tasked with the independent investigation -- "found no evidence that Moore engaged in any conduct of a sexual nature on campus or with any University student or employee elsewhere." The investigation included a "thorough review of all relevant communication" involving White and Moore, the trustees, The Village Church and employment references. Read More

• New details emerge in North Carolina pastor's death

  by Seth Brown/Biblical Recorder, posted Monday, June 08, 2020 (2 years ago)

  

  North Carolina pastor Jayson Rowe died by apparent suicide June 2, according to the Conway Police Department. Law enforcement officers were investigating an allegation of criminal sexual misconduct against Rowe when they received a call about his death Read More

• ERLC, Texas entities advocate for church autonomy

  by Tom Strode, posted Thursday, May 07, 2020 (3 years ago)

  

  Wikimedia Commons

  AUSTIN, Texas (BP) -- National and state Baptist entities have called on the Texas Supreme Court to uphold the First Amendment rights of churches to practice their faith and govern internally according to their beliefs.

  The Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) joined with a committee of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention and the Christian Life Commission of the Baptist General Convention of Texas in a friend-of-the-court brief filed April 21 that asked the state's justices to reverse a lower-court opinion against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lubbock. Read More

• Cedarville places president on leave, announces investigations into hiring, conduct of former faculty member

  by Diana Chandler, posted Saturday, May 02, 2020 (3 years ago)

  

  CEDARVILLE, Ohio (BP) -- Cedarville University trustees placed school president Thomas White on administrative leave Friday (May 1) amid controversy over his hiring and firing of a faculty member accused of sexual abuse.

  The trustees also announced independent investigations into both the hiring of former theology professor Anthony Moore and Moore's conduct while employed at the independent Baptist school. Read More

• Arkansas Baptists seek dismissal of sexual abuse lawsuit

  by Diana Chandler, posted Tuesday, March 31, 2020 (3 years ago)

  

  HOT SPRINGS, Ark. (BP) -- The Arkansas Baptist State Convention (ABSC), Millcreek Baptist Church and other defendants have denied allegations and filed motions to dismiss a 2019 lawsuit accusing them of liability in alleged multiple sexual assaults of a minor.

  The defendants responded to a lawsuit filed in December 2019 accusing former Millcreek pastor Teddy Hill Jr. of sexually assaulting Riley Fields over a period of years. Fields, now 19, alleges the sexual assaults began in 2014 and continued after Hill was appointed as Field’s guardian in 2016, according to court documents filed in the Ninth Circuit Court of Pulaski County, Ark. Fields originally identified himself as John Doe, but revealed his name in an amended complaint in January. Read More

• SBC Executive Committee votes to disfellowship Texas church

  by George Schroeder, posted Tuesday, February 18, 2020 (3 years ago)

  

  Photo by Eric Brown

  NASHVILLE (BP) -- Acting on a recommendation by the Southern Baptist Convention Credentials Committee, the SBC Executive Committee voted Tuesday (Feb. 18) to disfellowship Ranchland Heights Baptist Church of Midland, Texas, from the SBC because of its employment of a lifetime registered sex offender as pastor. The complete text of the Credentials Committee's recommendation follows this article. Read More

• Greear urges unity, not uniformity

  by Tess Schoonhoven, posted Monday, February 17, 2020 (3 years ago)

  

  Photo by Eric Brown

  NASHVILLE (BP) -- In his plenary address during the SBC Executive Committee meeting Feb. 17, Southern Baptist Convention president J.D. Greear called EC members to unity in order to continue to focus on "Gospel Above All," his choice of theme for the 2020 SBC Annual Meeting in June -- just as it was for the 2019 SBC Annual Meeting.

  Saying his goal has been to see the Gospel mission become the defining reality of the SBC, Greear challenged them on matters of sex abuse prevention, racial reconciliation, Gospel focus, Cooperative Program efforts and missional resurgence. Read More

• Texas church fires minister charged with sex assault

  by Diana Chandler, posted Wednesday, February 12, 2020 (3 years ago)

  

  COPPELL, Texas (BP) -- A Dallas area Southern Baptist church has fired a music minister charged with sexually assaulting a child, and told Baptist Press the alleged crime occurred before the accused's employment there.

  Valley Ranch Baptist Church (VRBC) in Coppell, Texas, fired 40-year-old associate minister of worship Jason Thomas after the Mesquite Police Department (MPD) arrested him Feb. 10, pastor Larry Parsley said Wednesday (Feb. 12). Read More

• IMB names Somer Nowak as prevention and response administrator

  by Ann Lovell, posted Tuesday, February 11, 2020 (3 years ago)

  

  Photo by Kathleen Murray/IMB

  RICHMOND, Va. (BP) -- The International Mission Board (IMB) has selected Somer Nowak to fill the newly created position of prevention and response administrator for the 175-year-old entity. In this role, Nowak will oversee and manage prevention and response efforts for child abuse (physical and sexual), sexual harassment (including sexual assault) and domestic violence.

  IMB is the first Southern Baptist entity to create a position for this purpose, fulfilling IMB President Paul Chitwood's commitment to lead the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) in abuse prevention and response. Read More

• FIRST-PERSON: Confused by the Super Bowl halftime show

  by Jeff Iorg, posted Tuesday, February 04, 2020 (3 years ago)

  

  "We are being told repeatedly and often not to objectify women," says Gateway Seminary president Jeff Iorg. "That's a needed and important message. Then, in the most watched entertainment event of the year, we celebrated doing just that." Read More