ANAHEIM, California — The Southern Baptist Convention voted Tuesday for what one official termed the “bare minimum” of reforms in dealing with decades of sexual abuse in the nation’s largest Protestant denomination.
The vote comes a little more than two weeks after a major independent report documented hundreds of cases of sexual abuse in the Southern Baptist Convention’s associated churches and institutions.
The denomination’s now-retired general counsel had compiled a database of hundreds of known abusers some 15 years ago but scoffed at sharing information with congregations, citing potential liability concerns.
The group will spend $3 million to implement recommendations for creating a database of “credibly accused” abusers as well as those who have been convicted.