Southern Baptists Reject Pedophile Database and Elect Hard-line Conservative

Delegates representing the 16 million strong Southern Baptist Convention rejected calls for a data base to screen church workers in order to identify pedophiles, and elected Dr. Johnny Hunt, pastor of a large Atlanta area mega-church on the first ballot.

Under pressure to respond to child sex abuse, the executive committee of the largest Protestant denomination in the United States rejected the idea of forming a data base to assist churches in identifying sexual predators and refused to establish an office to field abuse claims. The committee went on record in admitting sex abuse as both reprehensible and a sin, but chose to defer to local church autonomy in screening and hiring of its staff.

Church autonomy is a central tenet of the Southern Baptist Convention, but the move may also be an attempt to lessen culpability in lawsuits as seen in the recent cases against Roman Catholic priests. By not acknowledging a role for the convention in handling cases again pastors and church workers, the largest governing body is in a sense standing by the "every church is autonomous and thus an independent entity," policy as defined in the Baptist Faith and Message, the guiding document of cooperating Southern Baptist Churches.

The election of Dr. Hunt as the incoming president is widely viewed as a move back to the fundamentalist control exerted in the 1970s that removed most liberal teachers from Southern Baptist Seminaries. Schools such as Furman University in Greenville, SC removed themselves from Southern Baptist control over issues such as academic freedom and the right to have teachers who did not ascribe to the strict interpretation of the Scriptures.

Outgoing president, Dr. Frank Page, pastor of Taylors, SC First Baptist Church, who had attempted to put a more moderate face on the Southern Baptist Convention, had hoped to see his direction continued in the next leader. Dr. Hunt is not expected to continue in that direction. Presidents of the Southern Baptist Convention are allowed only two one-year terms in office.

In his acceptance address Dr. Hunt mentioned the drop in membership in Southern Baptist churches across the US and pledged to renew emphasis on evangelism and baptisms in the next year. While Dr. Page emphasized a less vigorous participation in the political activities of the Religious Right, it is not immediately clear if Dr. Hunt will renew those ties.