c. 2007 Religion News Service

SAN ANTONIO _ Southern Baptists expressed their “moral outrage” about child sexual abuse as they concluded their annual meeting Wednesday (June 13), calling on churches to take steps to help prevent “heinous acts against children.”

“We renounce individuals, churches or other religious bodies that cover up, ignore, or otherwise contribute to or condone the abuse of children,” reads the resolution, passed on the second day of the two-day meeting. “We strongly recommend that Southern Baptist churches and Convention entities respond to any suspicions or allegations of child abuse in a timely and forthright manner.”

In the past, Baptist officials have said their decentralized structure and autonomous congregations prevent them from complying with some reforms demanded by victims’ advocates.

The non-binding resolution followed Tuesday’s action asking the denomination’s Executive Committee to report back next year about the feasibility of creating a database of known sex offenders.

Southern Baptist Convention President Frank Page, re-elected during the meeting to a second one-year term, told reporters that officials were already looking into the possibility of a database.

“One instance of sexual abuse in a church is too much and we’re willing to do anything we can to empower, educate and to inform churches as to how they can protect precious children,” he said Tuesday.

In the statement adopted Wednesday, delegates also urged churches to use materials offered by the SBC’s LifeWay Christian Resources and state conventions that aim to aid churches in preventing child abuse.

Earlier this month, the Baptist General Convention of Texas, which includes some Southern Baptist congregations, posted the names of convicted sex offenders believed to have served as ministers at affiliated churches.

Christa Brown, who coordinates Baptist activism for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), said she appreciates Wednesday’s statement, even if it may be less powerful than specific action.

“It’s a good statement, but ultimately what will make kids safer is deeds and not words,” said Brown, reached at her Austin, Texas, office.

She welcomed the Baptists’s vote on the feasibility study for a sex offenders database, which she said “carries more possibilities for real action than does a resolution.”

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In other action, the Baptists heard from President Bush by a live satellite feed on Wednesday and gave him a standing ovation. “We will continue to work toward the day when every child is welcomed in life and protected in law,” Bush said, referring to his anti-abortion stance.

Other resolutions addressed:

_ hate crimes legislation, urging Bush to veto any bill passed by Congress because such laws pose “a direct threat to the First Amendment freedom of speech of those morally opposed to homosexuality.”

_ pastors, culture and civic duty, saying ministers need to declare “biblical truth concerning the burning moral issues that are being debated in the culture and government.”

_ the Southern Baptists’ lament on the 150th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dred Scot decision, which denied black citizenship, and their reaffirmation of a 1995 statement denouncing racism.

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