Amid a heated back-and-forth over Paige Patterson’s invitation to speak at a Florida church, the former Southern Baptist Convention leader’s supporters and opponents seem to agree on at least one thing: The #MeToo movement is changing the way some Baptists evaluate who is eligible for public ministry.
After Patterson was announced last month as a speaker at
Fellowship Church’s Great Commission Weekend, fellow Southern Baptists
and survivor advocates urged leaders to take him off the lineup in light
of his 2018 termination from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
and allegations he mishandled students’ sexual abuse reports at multiple
SBC seminaries. Last week, SBC president J. D. Greear waded into the
discussion, urging churches to consider Patterson’s past before inviting
him to speak.
Yet, Paige Patterson and his wife, Dorothy, remain
top-billed for next weekend’s event. Timothy Pigg, pastor of Fellowship
Church, told CT the church has received dozens of emails and phone
calls about Patterson. The congregation’s social media traffic has
increased approximately tenfold since announcing Patterson as a
conference speaker, and its local newspaper, the Naples Daily News, reported on criticism of the church.
Two leaders with the Florida Baptist Convention were scheduled to speak at the conference but have withdrawn. Approximately 150–200 people are expected to attend. Sexual abuse victims’ advocate Susan Codone tweeted
a request that people contact the church and ask it to withdraw
Patterson’s invitation because “the #SBC and the many harmed by the
Pattersons deserve better.”
Among Southern Baptists, adultery and divorce used to be
the only sins thought to disqualify a person from public ministry, said
Barry Hankins, a Baylor University historian who has written
extensively on the SBC. But now, mishandling abuse may be joining the
list.
“Things have changed so quickly across American culture
with the #MeToo movement, whether you’re talking about Hollywood on one
end or the Southern Baptist Convention on the other,” Hankins told Christianity Today.
He said that Americans moved from thinking, “Let’s not make a big deal
out of” sexual abuse, to thinking, “It’s a big deal, and anyone who
doesn’t make a big deal out of it needs to be singled out.”
On Friday, president Greear cautioned churches to think twice before hosting Patterson, when asked by the Houston Chronicle about this weekend’s conference.
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