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Guidepost report documents pattern of ignoring
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Guidepost report documents pattern of ignoring
A few key leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee repeatedly worked to stall, deny and control information about sexual abuse within the nation’s largest non-Catholic denomination, according to an independent investigation released Sunday, May 22.Get more news about guide post set manufacturers,you can vist our website!
And almost coincidentally during this outside investigation, allegations of abusive behavior surfaced against a former SBC president who — until last week — was the No. 2 leader of the SBC’s North American Mission Board.
“During our investigation, an SBC pastor and his wife came forward to report that SBC President Johnny Hunt (2008-2010) had sexually assaulted the wife on July 25, 2010. We include this sexual assault allegation in the report because our investigators found the pastor and his wife to be credible; their report was corroborated in part by a counseling minister and three other credible witnesses; and our investigators did not find Dr. Hunt’s statements related to the sexual assault allegation to be credible,” the executive summary of the Guidepost report states.
According to NAMB President Kevin Ezell, Hunt, who is 69, resigned his role as senior vice president for evangelism and leadership Friday, May 13, “effective immediately.”Ezell called the details of the Guidepost report “egregious and deeply disturbing.”
“Prior to May 13, I was not aware of any alleged misconduct on the part of Johnny Hunt,” Ezell said on Sunday afternoon, May 22. “I learned the details of the report today along with the rest of our Southern Baptist family.”
About an hour and a half after release of the report, Hunt issued a statement via Twitter confirming he had indeed resigned from NAMB but denying the allegations of abuse: “I vigorously deny the circumstances and characterizations set forth in the Guidepost report. I have never abused anybody.”
Prior to assuming the NAMB leadership role in 2018, Hunt served for three decades as pastor of First Baptist Church of Woodstock, Ga. He was a frequent guest preacher at churches and events across the nation. At Woodstock, he created a much-celebrated program for “hurting pastors” and their families. That residential program, called City of Refuge, has served pastors who experienced “infidelity, addiction, abuse of power or other moral failings.