Last week, Southern Baptists from around the country met in Birmingham, Alabama for their annual meeting. A major focus for Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) president J.D. Greear is sexual abuse within the SBC, America’s largest Protestant denomination.
In February, the Houston Chronicle ran a piece outlining hundreds of examples of sexual abuse allegations within the Southern Baptist Convention since 1998. (more…)
Monday, the New York Times ran an article titled “Her evangelical megachurch was her world. Then her daughter said she was molested by a minister.”
The story talks about the Village Church, a megachurch in Dallas, Texas and the home church of Matt Chandler, one of the most popular and dynamic pastors in the contemporary Evangelical movement.
The story chronicles a former church member named Christi Bragg whose daughter was sexually assaulted at a church sponsored retreat in 2012. The New York Times piece gives accounts of how the Village Church responded to the allegations.
The article gives the impression that the church did very little to help the family and glossed over a crime while only carrying about protecting their own interests as a church. (more…)
Bill Hybels is one of the most influential Christian leaders of the past generation. Earlier this spring he stepped down from his position at Willow Creek, the church he founded, in the wake of a number of allegations stretching back several years of inappropriate contact between Hybels and women connected to the church and leadership team of Willow Creek.
From a Chicago Tribune article from March:
The alleged behavior included suggestive comments, extended hugs, an unwanted kiss, and invitations to hotel rooms. It also included an allegation of a prolonged consensual affair with a married woman who later said her claim about the affair was not true, the Tribune found.
This week, a story broke in the New York Times about a former secretary who accuses Hybels of inappropriately touching her on multiple occasions in the mid 1980s. Her allegations include mentioning an instance of sexual activity, something that previous accusers had not said.
In the aftermath of that revelation, Willow’s teaching pastor resigned on Sunday, effectively immediately. Part of Carter’s reasoning is Willow’s handing of the situation.
Since the first women came forward with their stories, I have been gravely concerned about our church’s official response, and it’s ongoing approach to these painful issues. After many frank conversations with our elders, it became clear that there is a fundamental difference in judgment between what I believe is necessary for Willow Creek to move in a positive direction, and what they think is best.
The leadership of Willow had been informed about these allegations four years ago and did very little to take them seriously. They did an internal investigation, but internal investigations can be hard when their is an internally vested interest in clearing someone of wrongdoing.
Willow Creek was a trail blazing church. Scot McKnight is a New Testament scholar at Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in suburban Chicago. He attended Willow Creek for a decade and has responded to these events.
Earlier this summer, McKnight said in a blog post:
I believe the women on the basis of what I have learned. I am, as I said at the outset, often asked about the Willow situation and I have done my best to discern the facts. What I do know is this: Bill Hybels and Willow Creek’s leadership have undone forty years of trust for many. A church that has stood valiantly for women in ministry, that has always stood for Christian grace and truth and forgiveness for repenters, that has supported #metoo in various places, that then responds to women as they did to these women unravels the thread Willow has woven for four decades. Many of us are asking why Bill Hybels and Willow Creek’s pastors and Elders slandered the women, calling them liars and colluders, and still refuse to offer them apologies.
It’s unfortunate. It’s unfortunate for the women who were put in uncomfortable situations or approached inappropriately by someone they trusted. It’s unfortunate for this church and the many faithful attendees and people who have given of their time, talents, and treasures to help build this church up as one that has had a positive impact on so many lives. It’s unfortunate to the many young adults who are drawn to Willow Creek who had never previously been to a church that felt like a place where they could belong, and who are now left with more questions than answers as another church leader is brought down by scandal. It’s unfortunate for the Church. The failures of people within the church poorly reflect what the church is supposed to do to an increasingly secular and skeptical society. More ammunition is given.
May we not lose heart when people fail. People will because all sin and fall short of the glory of God. We are imperfect and willingly sinful. But we have a great savior who came and died so that all who believe in him would never die. So that those who are dead in sin can be made alive to God.
Aside from Jesus, the prominent people in the Bible all failed. Peter denied the Lord Jesus three times before Jesus was crucified. The Apostle Paul persecuted Christians and had them killed. David cheated on his wife and then had her husband killed to save himself. That’s not to justify any of these things. They were sins. But God still accomplishes his purpose with as sinful as humanity is.
But there are consequences. McKnight has suggested that Willow Creek will need changes in leadership going forward. That the people who showed poor leadership for the last few years and who made half hearted attempts to investigate the allegations cannot continue leading in the future.
Will Willow Creek be able to right the ship? Time will tell. If I had to make a prediction: with all of the bad publicity, with the poor leaderships, with the loss of their visionary founder, the ship will keep sinking until it’s swallowed up by the sea.
Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.
Over the last generation, Beth Moore has been one of the most prominent female leaders and speakers in American Evangelical circles. Her Bible studies are hugely popular among women. She’s the founder of Living Proof Ministries, a ministry for women based out of Houston.
She’s not a pastor. She’s an author and speaker.
Although she’s popular in Evangelical circles, she’s not universally supported. Some of the criticisms of her theology include that it’s a prosperity gospel or that it’s intellectually light theology.
My purpose in writing today is not to argue for or against the merits of her theology. Agree or disagree with her, she’s hugely influential. And today, Moore posted an open letter on the blog for Living Proof Ministries “A letter to my brothers” where she discusses some of her experiences as a prominent speaker in circles that are generally dominated by men.
The subject of women in ministry is one that is debated within Christian circles. Can a woman be a pastor? Can a women ever preach a sermon? Can a woman teach men in the church? People have different opinions on these issues. Some would say yes to all three, some would say no to all three. Others are in the middle.
It’s complicated.
In writing, Moore talks about some of the misogynistic treatment she’s received over the years. Considering the divergent opinions within Christian circles on women in leadership, Moore’s letter talks about how she had chalked up some of her treatment as being a byproduct of deeply rooted Biblical convictions among sincere Christians with whom she simply disagreed.
From the letter:
I accepted the peculiarities accompanying female leadership in a conservative Christian world because I chose to believe that, whether or not some of the actions and attitudes seemed godly to me, they were rooted in deep convictions based on passages from 1 Timothy 2 and 1 Corinthians 14.
As Moore continues to elaborate, she talks of coming to a realization that it wasn’t simply about differences in opinion.
I came face to face with one of the most demoralizing realizations of my adult life: Scripture was not the reason for the colossal disregard and disrespect of women among many of these men. It was only the excuse. Sin was the reason. Ungodliness.
Our culture largely disrespects women. The #metoo movement showed the rampant sexual harassment and assault in Hollywood. As the movement spread, more and more areas of life came to light that were stained by the mistreatment of women. The #churchtoo movement showed further examples of assault and harassment from within the church. Obviously we knew that there were issues but these movements have created a national dialogue.
While Moore’s post dealt more with misogyny than sexual assault, both are a reflection of a culture which far too often devalues women.
The church is meant to be a light in a dark world. But we also live in society and the world is sinful. For too many Christians, misogyny and sexism are overlooked blindspots.
I hold to a complementarian theology where I believe that preaching and teaching is reserved for men. Theologically, it’s how I see God having designed his created order. I think that’s the best way to interpret the applicable Biblical passages. I think that complementarianism can (and should) be honoring to women. Women are created in the image of God and are precious. But with a theological belief that there are certain things that men can do within the church and that women can’t do; with beliefs on submissiveness (without also understanding the self-sacrifice to which men are called), it can be easy for an Evangelical Christian male to develop a misogynistic view of women. Please don’t misunderstand. I’m not saying that the Bible is misogynistic. I’m saying that sinful men can distort the Bible and become sexist within our culture that often accepts sexism and misogyny. The default is just to do what the rest of the world is doing unless proactively living out a different set of values.
Again, we can agree or disagree with what Beth Moore believes and teaches. But we shouldn’t dismiss her points. The church needs to be a leader in our society in showing honor and respect to all women.
At the end of her letter, Moore makes a simple request:
I’m asking that you would simply have no tolerance for misogyny and dismissiveness toward women in your spheres of influence. I’m asking for your deliberate and clearly conveyed influence toward the imitation of Christ in His attitude and actions toward women.
Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.
