This past Sunday, the Southern Baptist Convention's Sexual Abuse Task Force released the report of Guidepost Solutions, which performed an independent investigation on issues related to sexual abuse and how the SBC's Executive Committee members and staff have responded to sexual abuse issues. Since the report's release, there have been many news reports; however, because secular media generally does not understand what the SBC is or how it is governed, it often misunderstands and thus misreports events related to the SBC. Add to this a general distrusts of secular media because of their hostile bias toward Christians many have struggled to understand the actual impact and ramifications of Guidestone's report. The report is 288 pages and includes two appendices that are 73 and 106 pages, respectively. Because of its size and complexity, many are relying on secondary sources to inform them about the report's findings and conclusions.

I have read the report, and I intend to give my initial thoughts on it in this post. I am sure that as additional time provides an opportunity to further appreciate the gravity of what is revealed and more thoughtfully understand how Southern Baptists should respond to it, there will be more to say.

These past few weeks have been deeply troubling for many in the Southern Baptist Convention as we witnessed some of the Executive Committee members and Executive Committee staff attempt to ignore the directive of the messengers and thwart an investigation into their handling of sexual abuse issues. It was ugly. It was frustrating. And it revealed a serious threat to the polity and stability of our Convention.