We Are NOT Immune
For a number of years, there have been reports of sexual abuse among clergy in a variety of denominations. Most noted were the abuses within the Roman Catholic Church and the methodology with which it was kept very quiet. It also started to be seen among other denominations. To a degree, Baptists, including Southern Baptists, have seemed to sit rather smugly above these accusations. Until the last year or so.
Unless we’ve had our heads firmly planted in the sand lately, we cannot be ignorant of the fact that the Southern Baptist Convention has recently come under some fire—rightly so—for having taken no action, or having taken an improper action, in cases where sexual abuse has been alleged among its leaders. The leadership of the convention is moving in a direction to deal with the matter, which is a stain upon the Church in general and now our convention specifically.
The First Baptist Church of Amsterdam is a Southern Baptist Church. We participate in both the local association, The Hudson Baptist Association, and the Baptist Convention of New York. As such, we are firmly committed to the inerrancy of Scripture and are committed to having leaders who meet the standards set in Scripture for deacons and elders, 1st Timothy 3 and Titus 1. Those Scriptures are all about integrity in the specific leadership in the Church. Additionally, we at FBC have instituted a policy dealing with sexual misconduct that is designed to protect all in our congregation, particularly our young people, from any such misconduct. The Southern Baptist Convention is now moving toward requiring a policy of that type in all cooperating churches. We are ahead of the Convention in this area.
The FBC policy is available in print for any person who attends our church.
For further reading:
http://www.bpnews.net/52451/wrapup-sex-abuse-prevention-tops-sbc-exec-comm-agenda
http://www.sbc.net/aboutus/basicbeliefs.asp