The story on the sex abuse scandal within the Southern Baptist Convention continues to unfold. The Koinos Church elders want to inform our church as much as possible on the report of what has taken place as well as what is going to be done about it. If you haven’t already, you can get an overview of the issue in this article from our elders. We also want to invite you to attend two open discussion forums on Monday and Thursday night (June 6 and 9, 2022), 6:00 pm at the Koinos Church Student Ministry Room.
We want to reiterate the fact that there have been no accusations or even suspicions of abuse in our church’s ministries. There are trustworthy policies and practices in place to guard against abuse in our church. The Koinos leaders take these things very seriously and are committed to the right handling of these things.
Our leaders want to be informed on what is taking place and we want to be as open as possible with the Koinos body about these things. It is not enough to know about this. We must also do what is necessary to act making the right reforms within our network of churches to safeguard against harm in the future and also to address the wrongs done in the past. Here is more information on that.
The Southern Baptist Convention Messengers (church members) called for an independent (non-Southern Baptist) investigation. The firm, Guidepost Solutions, conducted that investigation. Their full report can be read here. Part of their report includes about thirty pages of their recommendations for changes they suggest should be made. To read their suggestions, go to this link and navigate to page 259.
The task force of Southern Baptist Church leaders appointed to oversee the independent investigation will next suggest a plan for implementing those recommendations. They will present a motion on recommended reforms for approval by the Messengers at the upcoming SBC annual meeting in Anaheim, CA. Here is what the task force intends to do. They have taken the recommendations from Guidepost Solutions and formulated them into a suggested plan for implementation which is in keeping with the way the Southern Baptist Convention functions. Go to this link to read the task force’s suggested approach.
Koinos Church plans to send two elders (Chris Early and Johnathan Newman) to the SBC annual meeting June 12-15. We and many others are praying for God’s wisdom to be given so that the right actions will be taken in the right way for the good of God’s people in our churches and His glory. If you have concerns or question about any of these things please voice them any time.
