ACNAtoo Statement on the SBC Report
Abuse in the church is everyone’s problem. ACNAtoo stands in solidarity with the survivors of abuse in the Southern Baptist Convention. The Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) is quite young compared to the SBC, and ACNAtoo has existed for less than a year. We acknowledge with the deepest gratitude the decades of grueling work SBC survivors have invested in their struggle for justice, which has paved the way for others to come forward. Their tireless efforts have inspired us and provided a model for our work.
We know, as they do, that abuse can only be addressed when it is brought into the light. The investigation conducted by Guidepost Solutions sheds critical light on decades of abuse, mishandling, and coverup within the SBC. The Guidepost investigation’s final report, made public on May 22, 2022, provides an opportunity for the SBC to reckon honestly with its abuse crisis and to begin to seek transformation and healing.
In reading this report and the news coverage leading up to it, we have been continually struck by the similarities between the responses to abuse in our two denominations. Both SBC and ACNA leaders have been caught demonizing survivors as tools of Satan. Both SBC and ACNA survivors have pursued accountability within the church in good faith until they were left with no viable options but to turn to social media, news media, and lawyers. Both SBC and ACNA insiders have resigned from their positions and blown the whistle on abuse allegations mishandling. Both the SBC and ACNA top leadership, even after conceding to hire a third-party investigator, staunchly resisted survivor and expert calls to waive attorney-client privilege. The list goes on and on, with far more similarities than differences.
However, the SBC has an opportunity now for an honest reckoning — only because, after sustained public pressure from survivors and advocates, the SBC Executive Committee made two key decisions that distinguish the now-complete Guidepost investigation from the two investigations currently underway in the ACNA:
The SBC chose to waive attorney-client privilege. According to abuse survivor, advocate, and attorney Rachael Denhollander, “The Guidepost report shows the importance of waiving attorney-client privilege when investigating abuse. Many of the most important facts in the report came from communications with lawyers. Those facts would have remained secret if attorney-client privilege had not been waived.” Because the SBC eventually conceded to waive privilege, Guidepost Solutions was able to compile a report that empowers the denomination to address the extent of the crisis. Multiple SBC Executive Committee members have publicly acknowledged that this was an essential decision.
The SBC hired expert, independent counsel (Rachael Denhollander) to advise Guidepost Solutions. In doing so, they ensured that the investigation would be conducted in a manner that was both safe for survivors and that presented thorough, well-documented evidence for the denomination to review.
The ACNA has not handled its unfolding abuse crisis better than its predecessors, but it is not too late for ACNA leadership to heed the starkly relevant lessons emerging from the SBC.
In light of these lessons, ACNAtoo calls again for the ACNA to waive attorney-client privilege and to reconsider their decision not to hire Rachael Denhollander. It is clear for the world to see that pivotal information in the SBC abuse crisis would not have come to light without expert outside oversight and the relinquishment of attorney-client privilege. If the ACNA desires, as Archbishop Beach claims, to “walk in the light,” then it will need to move quickly to address these two fatal flaws in the investigations currently underway. Nothing less than caring for those Jesus calls us to care for is at stake, no matter the cost to us.