Oklahoma Baptists speak out on establishment of Southern Baptist sexual abuse hotline

Several Oklahoma Southern Baptists are speaking out about the establishment of a hotline for reporting sexual abuse within Southern Baptist Convention churches and affiliate organizations.

The establishment of the hotline comes in the wake of a scathing third-party report that uncovered a decades-long pattern of Southern Baptist leaders' mishandling, minimizing and covering up sexual abuse allegations made about ministers, ministry leaders and others within the denomination's umbrella. The independent report released Sunday by Guidepost Solutions also included details of leaders at the denomination's highest levels disparaging and stonewalling sexual abuse survivors seeking justice.

The Southern Baptist Convention's Executive Committee agreed to have Guidepost maintain the hotline for survivors to submit sexual abuse allegations. In a news release, the Executive Committee said the hotline was being implemented because committee members, Guidepost and members of the denomination's sexual abuse task force had been fielding calls from survivors regarding sexual abuse allegations since the sexual abuse report was released on Sunday.

According to the news release, survivors who reached out through the confidential hotline would be notified of the available options for care and would be put in touch with an advocate.

The Rev. Dave Bryan, an Executive Committee member and senior pastor of Chisholm Heights Baptist Church in Mustang, said it was his understanding that the hotline is a continuation of a hotline set up by Guidepost during its investigation.

The hotline is only a temporary measure until more permanent procedures are put in place.

"As I understand it, this is really just a stopgap to get us into an even better place," Bryan said Thursday.

Along those lines, the Executive Committee's statement regarding the hotline said it was being implemented until the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting June 14-15 in Anaheim, California, "when delegates can pass even more meaningful reforms."

Bryan, 64, said he has been a member of the Executive Committee for seven years, and he will begin his eighth and last year in June. He said Executive Committee members initially serve four-year terms typically, and he is currently on his second such term.

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Thursday, the Mustang minister spoke briefly about the sexual abuse report keeping the nation's largest Protestant denomination in global headlines in recent days.

"It is painful on a variety of levels, but it is what I understand the Lord has called me to and will continue to serve as faithfully as I understand in all decisions and in all places, kind of for a time such as this," he said. "That's what the Lord has set before me personally and for our committee, then we will follow through."

Bryan emphasized that the developments resulting from the third-party report are ongoing.

"The process is still unfolding — we have a long, long journey ahead of us, but we are taking good steps, I believe," he said. "We as an Executive Committee, and I, have every confidence that the convention in June, will move forward.

The Rev. Mike Keahbone, another Executive Committee from Oklahoma, shared his thoughts in a statement on Twitter. Keahbone, senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Lawton, has been on the Executive Committee since 2021.

He said the report "forced us to look back & look within. Now it's time for action & accountability."

"... Many of you saw our first shot at getting this right," he tweeted in reference to the Executive Committee's meeting on Tuesday. "It was messy and disjointed but we took tangible steps. Our process will get better as we learn more from survivors and lean less on our procedure."

Meanwhile, the Rev. Todd Fisher, executive director-treasurer of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma, informally known as Oklahoma Baptists, also weighed in on the latest developments.

Earlier this year, Fisher and the Oklahoma Baptists board of directors established an Abuse Prevention & Response Task Force.

“Southern Baptists must unquestionably be more vigilant in preventing abuse, reporting abuse, and caring for survivors of abuse," Fisher said in a statement on Thursday.

"The creation of national hotline as a channel for people to submit allegations of abuse within the SBC is one of many important steps in this pivotal moment for the SBC. We must be faithful in protecting the vulnerable among us.”

Abuse hotline

To contact the Southern Baptist Convention's sexual abuse hotline call 202) 864-5578 or email SBChotline@guidepostsolutions.com.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Okla. Southern Baptists establish hotline for reporting sexual abuse